This Sunday we will continue with our PRAY 10 series that we are using to kick off our Year of Prayer here at Grace Church. But before we move on to the topic for this Sunday, which is being “devoted” to prayer, let me just give a brief refresher to what happened over the first three Sundays of this series.
Week one we looked at the prayer life of Jesus and saw that His prayer life was a priority; it was personal; it was used as preparation; and it was meant to be a pattern for you and I to follow.
Week two we toured the mansion of prayer. We saw the foyer which we identified as the place of confession. We saw the throne room which we identified as the place of adoration. We saw the trophy room which was the place of thanksgiving. We saw the guest room which was the place of intercession. And we saw the living room which was the place of petition.
Last Sunday we looked at the topic of praying for our young. Doug Kegarise, our Pastor of Student Ministries, preached and shared with us three ways we can pray for our children and our teenagers. It all focused on praying for their hearts, their heads, and their hands.
In regards to their heart, we should pray that our children and our youth will accept God’s plan for salvation and live their lives completely for Him.
In regards to their head, we should pray that our children and our youth will understand who they are in Christ and will live their lives as “new creations”.
In regards to their hands, we should pray that our children and our youth will engage in the responsibilities God has given them to be ambassadors for Christ.
Three excellent principles, wouldn’t you say? But then came the amazing ending to the morning. At the end of Doug’s sermon each service, while we sang a song, all of our children and teenagers from cradle to 12th grade paraded in and lined the aisles of the auditorium. We had shared earlier in the morning the statistics from the previous week in which we had 1,555 people at church and 509 of them were 12th grade and under – literally one out of every three people in our church. But the reality of that set in when these children and teenagers came parading into the auditorium filling the aisles. We then took time to pray for their hearts, heads and hands.
Folks, listen, I knew this was coming and I thought it was going to be a “cool” ending, but I didn’t realize the impact it was going to have. I stood up in the mezzanine and just wept as I watched all of these kids and teens parade in that God has entrusted to us. And it didn’t just impact me first service. It had just as much impact, maybe even more so, when I watched the same parade take place second service and third service as well. And I wasn’t the only one. As I looked around the auditorium I saw men and women of all ages brushing away many tears.
So don’t miss this Sunday as we continue PRAY 10 talking about being “devoted” to prayer.
Week one we looked at the prayer life of Jesus and saw that His prayer life was a priority; it was personal; it was used as preparation; and it was meant to be a pattern for you and I to follow.
Week two we toured the mansion of prayer. We saw the foyer which we identified as the place of confession. We saw the throne room which we identified as the place of adoration. We saw the trophy room which was the place of thanksgiving. We saw the guest room which was the place of intercession. And we saw the living room which was the place of petition.
Last Sunday we looked at the topic of praying for our young. Doug Kegarise, our Pastor of Student Ministries, preached and shared with us three ways we can pray for our children and our teenagers. It all focused on praying for their hearts, their heads, and their hands.
In regards to their heart, we should pray that our children and our youth will accept God’s plan for salvation and live their lives completely for Him.
In regards to their head, we should pray that our children and our youth will understand who they are in Christ and will live their lives as “new creations”.
In regards to their hands, we should pray that our children and our youth will engage in the responsibilities God has given them to be ambassadors for Christ.
Three excellent principles, wouldn’t you say? But then came the amazing ending to the morning. At the end of Doug’s sermon each service, while we sang a song, all of our children and teenagers from cradle to 12th grade paraded in and lined the aisles of the auditorium. We had shared earlier in the morning the statistics from the previous week in which we had 1,555 people at church and 509 of them were 12th grade and under – literally one out of every three people in our church. But the reality of that set in when these children and teenagers came parading into the auditorium filling the aisles. We then took time to pray for their hearts, heads and hands.
Folks, listen, I knew this was coming and I thought it was going to be a “cool” ending, but I didn’t realize the impact it was going to have. I stood up in the mezzanine and just wept as I watched all of these kids and teens parade in that God has entrusted to us. And it didn’t just impact me first service. It had just as much impact, maybe even more so, when I watched the same parade take place second service and third service as well. And I wasn’t the only one. As I looked around the auditorium I saw men and women of all ages brushing away many tears.
So don’t miss this Sunday as we continue PRAY 10 talking about being “devoted” to prayer.
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