• Twenty years ago I taught at a conference and began by saying: “if you don’t have a prayer life, you don’t have a Christian life.” I was younger and unsure I could say something so stark. But now, with the perspective of time, it’s obviously a true statement. Christianity isn’t assent to an ideology; it’s a life lived in relationship with a triune God. The essence of that relationship is prayer. Don’t let the enemy delude you. Join us tonight at 7p for Selah: prayer, music, meditation on the Word.
• And while private prayer is good, don’t kid yourself and think it’s the main course. When the Church was formed in the crisis and uncertainty following Jesus’ death, her first impulse was to gather and pray (Acts 1:14, 24; 2:1-4; 2:42-47). The Church in the west is spiritually flat. Prayer is not the only component in that decline, but it’s probably the chief indicator. When people are being formed and reformed by the Holy Spirit, they gather and pray. This has been true throughout the Church’s history. Don’t give up on this so easily.
• I know it’s grey; I know it’s dark; I know you are weary of this virus; I know some of you are down and tempted to quit. Prayer is a lifeline. Come take hold of it. See you tonight. We’ll reestablish some baseline truths, praying through some of the fundamentals of our identity in Christ. Then we’ll pray for each other.