There is an old expression in the church that I don't think we hear as much as we used to. The expression is “praying through.” Praying through is the idea that we persevere in prayer until the answer comes. It might take the form praying through the night for sick or struggling loved one. It might be the long-term persistent prayer of a parent for a wayward child. It might be weeks, months, years of prayer for a friend or family member who does not yet know Christ, that they might be saved. It is the idea of a persistent prayer that pushes towards a breakthrough.
The concept is Biblical. Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow who continues to come over and over to a certain judge that she might receive justice in her cause. I think this is a phrase that we ought to return to our lexicon. With all that is going on in our world, I would encourage us to not just pray an occasional prayer, but to “pray through.” To be persistent in prayer, storming the gates of Heaven, for all those areas of our lives where we need a breakthrough; healing for a medical need, resources where there is a need for provision, peace restored in Ukraine.
During this 40 Day Journey I hope you are finding some extra opportunities to spend time with God in prayer. Personally I'm trying to do that in several ways. Each morning I'm setting aside a little extra time for daily prayer and journaling. I am fasting one day a week and the time that is freed up I use for prayer and additional scripture reading. On Friday nights for the next several weeks we are leading an informal time of group prayer. We are offering this prayer time in the sanctuary at our Plaistow campus at 7 p.m. I know Friday nights can be tough, but if you can break away for a bit we would love to have you join us. It is open to all.
I also want to share with you a very exciting update. We are now close to $20,000 for the Ukraine Relief Fund. There is still some money left in the matching fund. So if you would like to be a part of this exciting and important initiative, it is not too late to have your gift matched and double the impact. You can go to www.rock-church.org/give to donate online or you can put a check in the offering on Sunday with Ukraine in the memo line.
I also want to remind everyone that our Rock Church youth group is up and running again. This past week we had just under 20 kids. The group meets Wednesdays at 5 p.m. at our Plaistow campus. We feed the students dinner and then break out for life group. We would love to have all middle school and high school students join us tonight or any Wednesday. Also, if anyone would like to take a turn providing a simple dinner for the kids, please sign up at this link.
Have a blessed week. I look forward to us being together this weekend as we continue our series “Like Jesus.”
I love you all,
Pastor Steve
Oh, one more thing. I am going to be offering a new 6 week course entitled Bible 101 on Monday nights. This will be a hybrid class, so you can participate in person at my house in Plaistow or connect online through zoom. You can sign up for the class at this link. In person registration is limited to 10 people. Zoom participation is unlimited.