United Together in Prayer
Praying can seem so simple. It’s just talking to God after all, right?
We can send off a fleeting, even nonsensical thought out into the ether in between sitting in traffic and glancing back down at our phones, or we can formally kneel, fold our hands, and speak aloud trying our best to sound “holy.”
Scripture claims that through Christ’s work on the cross this ability to approach the throne of God anywhere, anytime is open to us all. One of the reasons he came down was to connect with his sons and daughters. It’s apparent—God longs to hear our prayers no matter how they come.
“And yet, sometimes we can’t find the words to match our feelings. We don’t think it’ll do any good because so many times our petitions seem to go unanswered.”
And yet, sometimes we can’t find the words to match our feelings. We don’t think it’ll do any good because so many times our petitions seem to go unanswered. We become busy with work, school, family etc. It can be so much easier to let our minds wander on a new favorite long-form TV series than to stew in our own inner conflicts. It seems there are a million reasons not to slow down, still our spirits, and turn to God.
This week we begin a new series entitled John 17: The Hopes and Prayers of Jesus. We’re going to examine how and what Jesus prayed for, and I think these weeks will also serve as yet another reminder of how important it is for us to engage in this ancient spiritual discipline.
…And we’ve had many reminders that we need to be praying lately, haven’t we?
Since returning from COVID lock-downs and going through yet another season of tumultuous race relations in our country, we’ve seen war on the international stage, deadly earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, and terrible mass shootings riddle our news feeds. All of these hardships and injustices along with, perhaps, the very Spirit of God have moved our leadership and staff to see clearly just how important it is for us to continually pray.
There was a palpable need to intercede for our church as we made the decision to merge the Herndon and Waterford campuses to make a new Summit Orlando, and we’re feeling the same now as we wade into the waters of seeking God’s will on how to best be his Church in our community both now and for years to come. Our leadership, the board, the staff, and our broader Summit community need our prayers. Our city and our world need them as well.
It’s for this reason that in the past year or so you’ve likely heard from the stage that “as a church, we’re trying to prioritize prayer.” We’ve prayed over a number of different topics in service and we’ve invited several prominent congregants to be our voice from the stage on some sensitive matters. That will continue to be something we do as a part of our worship services, but we’ve also jumped headlong into some other ways to engage as well.
Grace Veronica has been leading a Prayer Night on the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Summit Orlando Sanctuary. Grace has been a champion for prayer among our staff and these prayer nights have been key for people seeking prayer for themselves and their families in vulnerability and also for those longing to pray for others as we find strength together in our God’s unfailing love and sovereignty.
We’ve also worked on making our Prayer Teams more robust. At the end of each service, you may have noticed there are commonly a few staff and volunteers ready to receive people for prayer directly following the message. These volunteers take the call to intercede for anyone who comes forward very seriously because they know how important intercession is and that people know they are supported by their church.
“If you have a need for prayer in this season as kids are going back to school, life is busy as ever, and the waves the world sends us rocking in our boats in ways we never saw coming, let us join with you in prayer. ”
Please, if you have a need for prayer in this season as kids are going back to school, life is busy as ever, and the waves the world sends us rocking in our boats in ways we never saw coming, let us join with you in prayer. Don’t hesitate to reach out via email, find a staff member Sunday morning, or write in a request on the bottom of your bulletin. We want to be united with you in this season and we want to be a church that bears each other’s burdens as laid out in scripture.
Also, if you’re interested in praying in our Sunday services on behalf of the congregation, joining the Prayer Team or being a part our ongoing Prayer Nights, please, don’t hesitate to reach out and inquire about these opportunities as well. We want this initiative to be an “all hands-on deck” sort of cause.
We’re leaning into this call as a church because we believe that as we bind together in prayer, we will begin to look and act more like Jesus, and as we spend more time with him, we’re likely to bring a little bit more of Heaven into the world around us.