When Chapel Hill receives another Christian into the church, we renew our covenant to be with the new member to faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witnesses. Today, let’s look at the vow to support the church through prayer.
Prayer is foundational for the church, an assembly of God’s people, the body of Christ, representing Christ to the world. Yes, prayer is more important than money, as much as we need money to pay the bills. Prayer is what holds us together as a church, although at times, praying for the church and for one another can be more difficult than we often admit or are aware.
Prayer is very difficult when one has no desire to pray. Sadness, illness, grief, hardships, anger, and doubts are some reasons, among many more, why one cannot pray for oneself or for someone else. For a church that prays, these are the instances when we lift up those who cannot pray for themselves, whether we pray together in gatherings or in our moments alone with God.
And then there will be times when misunderstandings, conflicts of interests, or differences of opinions cause the church to pray for “us vs. them”. It is during those times that as a church we need to remind each other that we do not pray to advance our own causes, but to pray for God’s will in leading the church to the right direction as written in the Lord’s Prayer, “… your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The good news is that in prayer, the Holy Spirit does not only pray for us, but also illuminates our hearts and minds to know God and to know ourselves.
Prayer is foundational for the church. Without prayer at its heart, the church is no different from a non-profit organization working for good causes. My prayer and hope for Chapel Hill is that we always remember that we are a prayer church and we live by prayer. Upon this foundation, all of us will slowly but steadily move closer to the goals of Christian life, which is to love God, to love others, and to love ourselves.
~ Mai
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