Pastor Diehl's Message
Notes from the Pasture....Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray....Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him....And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up....The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:13-16
Dear Friends in Christ,
A small country town was in desperate need of rain. One Sunday morning, the pastor of the local church called for a special prayer meeting to be held that night. "It's time to pray for rain," said the pastor. The people gathered with a sense of purpose and excitement, but when the pastor stood to lead the prayer time, his words stunned the waiting crowd. "Only one of you came in faith," he announced. Looking down at the first row, the pastor pointed to a little girl who sat quietly, a smile on her face, and an umbrella in her hand. We can pray for rain, but faith brings an umbrella. When we pray we invite and expect God to step in and take charge.
At one of their recent meetings the church council was evaluating and discussing various aspects of our congregational life and ministry. In the midst of our discussion we determined that prayer was one facet of our life and ministry together in which we hadn't devoted much emphasis. Of course, we pray together during worship each week, but the council noted that we do not regularly address the need and importance of prayer in our lives and our daily walk with the Lord.
I thought I would use this space this month to share with you my thoughts on what we do well now as a congregation and about upcoming things in our congregation that will enhance the importance of prayer.
- I am pleased that many of you (especially the children) participate in the prayers of concern and thanksgiving during our Praise & Worship services. It makes my heart sing to see so many of our young children willingly participating in our worship services.
- We have a group of "prayer warriors" in our prayer chain. I hope that those of you who participate in that ministry find it to be a blessing and that you really do use it to pray and not just "gossip."
- In the weekly bulletin and the monthly newsletter you can find a list of names of members and friends who stand in some type of need and desire our prayers. Even though you may not know all of them and their needs, I encourage you to, nevertheless, remember them in your prayers.
- Pastor Thompson recently gave a sermon on the topic of prayer. Both Pastor Thompson and I will try to be more intentional at occasionally including the topic of prayer in our sermons.
- We always begin our church meetings with prayer. The church council begins and ends their meetings with prayer.
- During Holy Week you will have the opportunity to participate in a new ministry for our congregation. The Prayer Vigil will begin after the Maundy Thursday worship and conclude when we begin the Good Friday worship. More details about the Vigil are in the newsletter. I encourage you to prayerfully consider participating.
- The Seasoned Citizens Service at the end of April will also be focused on prayer.
- Perhaps a Bible Study on the topic of prayer would be in order. Let me know if you would be interested.
If you have any other ideas of things that are centered around prayer that you believe would be beneficial for our congregation, please share them with me or Pastor Thompson. As you can see, prayer is an integral part of our life together as well as an essential part of our life with God.
A mother overheard her daughter-in-law talking on the telephone to a friend who had called, asking for prayer. Amy, 5, came bouncing into the room, stood still for a moment to listen, and heard her mother praying. "Is that God on the phone, Mom?" Amy interrupted. "I need to talk to him, too!"
Keep praying! I look forward to greeting you in church next Sunday.
Prayerfully yours,
Pastor Diehl
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