PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

I think one of the reasons that we're called to pray without ceasing is that, once we start praying for others we soon discover that nearly everyone we know needs prayer and our prayer list becomes so long that it's impossible to pray through it in one sitting.

At the moment I'm praying for two new house churches to be birthed; one in Seattle and one in Farmington, New Mexico. I'm also praying for a dear woman of God who has been so severely abused by the Body of Christ that she was driven from fellowship, and even her town. Now she wants to return to fellowship again even though she knows the risk of being hurt again is very real.

I'm praying for one of my dearest and oldest friends who is going through a divorce and trying to take care of his two little daughters as his heart, and his marriage are ripped in half.

I'm praying for co-workers who are at various places in their spiritual development, and for wisdom and grace to be a true friend to each of them as God leads me.

I'm praying for members of our house church who are far from God, who are struggling in their marriage, who are distracted by the World and who have retreated from fellowship with us in spite of knowing that it's wrong for them to be alone.

I'm praying for a friend who won't return my calls or respond to my email even though I've pledged my undying friendship and love for him, and even though he tells me to my face that I've done nothing to hurt him - I know he's lying to me and I know he's running away from those who love him most...I think he knows it too since it's been a pattern in his life for years and years now. I just want him to wake up and return to God, and to fellowship, and to our friendship, but no matter what I do he will not move.

I'm praying for a young family living in the motel in Santa Ana where we serve each month. They are trapped in poverty, chained by their own addictions, burdened with raising two lovely children in that dark and filthy place, and nearly out of hope.

I'm praying for the manager of that same motel who has learned to soften his heart towards others but isn't quite ready (just yet) to fully surrender to Christ.

I'm praying for another family who has suffered and struggled more than any other family I have ever known over the last five or six years. I'm praying that this week his new job really fits him, and that he can continue moving forward towards a better tomorrow for himself and his family.

I'm praying for the families on our own street and for their children who are emotionally abandoned in many ways. I pray for their safety. I pray that we could connect with these families and that God would show us how to love them and demonstrate the love of Jesus to them.

I'm praying for our house church as we inch closer towards reproducing ourselves and creating a second house church as this one grows physically larger and spritually deeper. I'm praying that God would lead us towards a natural muliplication of new life in the Spirit as some of us respond to the Spirit's calling to step out and plant a new church in their homes.

I'm praying for my own family; that my son Dylan would navigate the journey from boyhood into teenage adolescence; that my youngest son would overcome his speech impediment; that my wife would be strengthened as she home schools our sons each day; that I would be the Father, the Husband, and the Spiritual Head of our household that God has called me to be; and that all of us would hear God's voice as we walk with Jesus and try to be Missionaries to our world.

When you have so much to pray about, and so many to pray for, the only way it can possibly work is to pray constantly, with every breath, in every free moment, for those who are part of your spiritual family and whom God loves intensely.

What are you praying for? Who is on your heart right now? God is listening. Go ahead and pray.

-kg