My Connect Year

The Power of Prayer!

November 16, 2007 at 7:18 pm (Uncategorized)

Recently I have been feeling aware that Christian meetings don’t equal more of God’s love. God loves us and it doesn’t matter how many early morning prayer meetings we go to! So anyway with the start of a Navs prayer meeting for anyone involved in Navs (Thursdays, 7.30am at Jimmy’s house) going alongside our Pod prayer meeting (Fridays, 7.30am at Big J’s House) I was feeling very aware that it can be easy for me to fill my week with meetings. But is God involved? Or am I just filling my week up with ‘Christian stuff’ to make myself feel better or more holy?

However a story that was told to me at the Connect days totally opened my eyes! Ted Pilling, who is the National coordinator for International Ministries, came to speak to us and over lunch told us how he got started in the Navigators as a student. He was a student at Loughborough University and feeling disillusioned in his faith. He went to church one evening for what he told himself was the last time. At church that evening he heard a man speak who gave his testimony. At the end of the service Ted went to speak to him to ask him if he could have a chat with him. The guy said that he could but would he like to do it the following evening at his house at 7.30? Ted said OK. So the following evening came and Ted turned up at this guys house only to find 5 other students there all sat in the guys lounge. The guy (who was Robb Powrie-Smith, I think) said “all of you have asked to speak to me over the last couple of weeks,” he continued, ” I am willing to do a Bible study with you but there are three rules. One, you prepare the study in advance. Two, you get here on time. Three, you only miss a week if you are dead!” Nobody said anything. Then Robb said ” If you don’t want to do it then that’s fine, its been nice meeting you, there’s the door!” Nobody moved! So that is how Ted got started in Navs! What happened next was an explosion of growth! In one years time they had 90-odd students in bible study and that soon became well over a hundred. People who were joining Navs were, 3 weeks later, leading bible study groups because they didn’t have enough leaders otherwise to cope with the sheer number of people coming!

Now the point of this story isn’t that we should be harsher disciplinarians in our groups! Or that we should lay down a list of rules and kick out of Navs those who don’t comply with them! Ted himself said that although this was a special time and God was definitely moving in the people at that time, you should not take this as a model of how to run a Navs ministry. It isn’t feasible to use this example as a model. I don’t know about you but a story like this, although incredible, makes me feel slightly discouraged because I want to know why this movement of God in students lives isn’t happening now in Edinburgh. Can I even imagine something like this happening in Navs at the moment?

However the crux of the story is this. Way, way before this amazing growth amongst students in Loughborough happened several local churches had joined together in praying for students to know God for years! For Years!! This I believe is what made the difference. This perseverance amongst those earnestly praying for students to get to know the Lord was eventually realised during this time.

It made me think about how I view prayer. Do I earnestly desire God to answer my prayers so that I persevere in those prayers? If God doesn’t act in my expected time frame do I just presume that I was praying for something that wasn’t in God’s will and drop it and move on to something else? Do you see God’s chance to answer your prayers as fitting in to your schedule? How much do we persevere?

Now this part of the story is amazingly encouraging!! And very challenging! So I urge you guys, girls and myself to persevere in our prayers and earnestly and faithfully desire what we pray for. Remember that God works in his own way and we cannot second guess when he will work and answer prayer.

So I don’t feel bad about my morning prayer meetings as I know it is a time I can bring my prayers before God and fully give him control of them. I just need to remember to persevere!

1 Thessalonians 5 v17 says “…pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Luke 18 v1 says “The Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

and v7 continues “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? He will see that they gain justice…”

All the best!

Dave