Pastor's InTouch address February 2022 (Click to view InTouch Magazine)

Dear Friends,
 
As usual, the week of prayer has been a great encouragement and blessing. Given how central prayer is to our lives as Christians, it makes sense that prayer is a vital part of building unity in our Church.
I love the way Luke puts it in Acts 4. 24; “They raised their voices together in prayer to God.”
 
Corporate prayer draws us together. When we pray we are leaving behind our desires and are focusing on God and others. And coming together maintains the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4. 3)
 
For the early Christian Church, praying together was a priority. It started immediately after Jesus left his disciples at the ascension, where they met in the upper room. What happened after? Pentecost.
Then, we are told in Acts 2 v42 that they devoted themselves to prayer. What happened? The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Just after Peter and John had been threatened not to preach Christ, the early Christians met for prayer. And what happened? The place where they met shook. When Peter was thrown into prison, what was the Church doing? They were meeting for prayer. And what happened? The cell doors were flung open, and the chains fell off Peter and he was guided by an angel out of Jail. Always, when God’s people met for prayer, God blessed them.
 
That’s a great encouragement for us as Christians, if we want to be blessed, we need to adopt the habit of meeting together for prayer. Of course, it’s only out of God’s graciousness that we are blessed, as Daniel says in Daniel 9 v18: “We do not make request of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.” And it’s on that basis that we make this plea to God.
 
Let’s never forget the importance of the place of prayer. Prayer was central to the early church, and it must be for us now.
 
Yours, In Christ,
 
Pastor