Looking Ahead

These are exciting days at Northside Baptist Church. We have launched our full Fall calendar and excitement is in the air. Choirs are meeting, Bible Study groups have assembled, Awana’s has launched and it seems full speed ahead from here. I want to ask you to do several things in the days ahead:

1.  Continue to pray for the ministries of Northside Baptist Church. We have a great ministry team and a support staff that is second to none. They are all working very hard for the church and our Lord. Often times things come at them in waves that you would not believe. When it is quiet, it is quiet. When it gets busy, it gets BUSY. Pray that God gives them wisdom, discipline, and stamina.

2.  Remember that DOUBLE DAY SUNDAY is coming. On January 8^th we will launch two Sunday School hours and two Worship hours. We want to make sure that we do this in such a way that it is effective and honors God. There are several areas of need in the days ahead. We will need approximately six classes in the second Sunday School hour. Some of these will come from classes that moved, some will come from classes that sent others out as missionaries, and some will be new launches. Pray for the success of this effort and pray about what God might have your role to be. Also, we will need lots of support staff to fill roles such as greeters and ushers.

3.  Invite your friends. Make sure that you always have something positive to say about your church and encourage others to come with you. There are any number of people who would love to come to church if only they were invited. Make a list of a half-dozen people or so that you might invite, begin to pray for them, and look for an open door.

Northside is built on a very rich history. This is truly a blessing. However, I believe that our greatest days are ahead, as they should be for any church. In order for us to realize this truth, it will take all of us being faithful to prayer, faithful to invite, and faithful in obedience.

Asking for Prayer

In recent days I have really began to notice how often people will say, “I don’t really like to ask for prayer for myself, but…” Another closely related behavior that I have noticed is people using sarcasm to express a frustration or concern. The place that these two tactics are really noticeable is in the realm of social media. Someone will make the first statement and then sheepishly express a pray concern. Another common practice is to use the second tactic instead of just coming out and saying, “Hey, I’m going through some stuff,” or “I’m having some struggles right now, please pray for me.”

Never apologize when asking for prayer. This is God’s design. He tells us to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). He further tells us, “keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). In case you didn’t realize it, these “saints” that He is speaking of are you and me. We are called to keep praying for each other. Prayer is where the real work of bearing one another’s burdens gets done.

When it comes to prayer, we must recognize that we can pray for each other generally or specifically. If I know how to be praying for you, I can be very specific. However, if you have been too embarrassed to share your needs, then I can only pray generally for you. Let us make two commitments to each other: first, let us commit to pray for one another. Second, let’s be committed to sharing our heart in a real and open way.

As we commit to be open and honest with each other, it will be exciting to see what God does. It is through prayer that God moves and works, so let’s be about the work of prayer.

Don’t pray when you feel like it. 

Have an appointment with the Lord and deep it. 

A man is powerful on his knees.

-          Corrie Ten Boom