This Sunday some of us stayed on after church to pray for
our Baptist Union Day of Prayer. After a yummy bring and share lunch together
we went back into the church to pray for the changes that are being considered
in our denomination. The union are hoping these discussions will end up not
just with ways of addressing our financial deficit but also the renewal of the
way we do church as a union.
It can be quite difficult to understand the ins and outs of
all these meetings and proposals but what we do understand is that if we want
God to heal our land, and reinvigorate our churches we have to ‘humble
ourselves and pray’ (2 Chronicles 7:14). It was great to know that we were
joining with other Baptists from across the nation to pray on that day.
On top of this, on 29th September Christians from all different
backgrounds and denominations are meeting at Wembley Stadium to pray and
worship together on another (aptly named) National Day of Prayer and Worship. Just
as I feel that our prayer meetings for Bures are a real assurance that we will
see change in our village, these national prayer initiatives encourage me that
we will see change across our country.
I think a lot of people, Christian or otherwise, would
concede that our country is in need of a moral and spiritual overhaul and I
personally long to see it, for our own sake and for the sake of the generations
to come. The meeting in Wembley is a
good start, but we must all be prepared to join in if we want to see real
change.
The church has to ask
itself, are we, across the nation, prepared to get down on our knees and pray?
Even in churches prayer sometimes still seems taboo, uncomfortable or boring. ‘It’s
an added bonus if I can make it to the occasional prayer meeting – brownie points
for me!’ I suppose this is one of the devil’s greatest successes, making
Christians unwilling to pray. We have been fooled into considering prayer
dispensable and a low-priority, when actually it is our lifeline. If we want
God’s help, we need to ask for it. If we want a relationship with God, we have
to work at it. And if we want change, we can’t do it without Him.
Will you be joining in and praying on September 29th and
beyond? As a moustachioed ancestor of my husband’s once said (yes, I married a
descendent of Lord Kitchener – impressed?), Your Country Needs You!
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Interested in more?
Check out some of our Sunday sermons at: http://www.buresbaptistchurch.org/sermon_catchup.php
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