So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being
made fervently by the church to God. Acts 12:5 (NASB).
In
the ministry of UESI , corporate prayer is one of the important ways that the students, the graduate, and the staff can
participate together and do the ministry more effectively. Private prayer life
is a discipline we teach to our students in every camp. As breathing is vital
for physical life, personal prayer is important for spiritual life. In the same
way, corporate prayer is vital for the body of Christ the Universal Church.
In
the 1970’s and 80’s there used to be all night prayers at local level EGFs and
3 day prayer conferences at district level and state level. In those
gatherings, we usually had a short time of praise and worship followed by short
exhortation and then a time of corporate prayer. During these sessions, we
never used to be bored or felt like dragging. It used to be a conscious
participation by all the members interceding for the needs of the ministry, individuals
and of our country. Everyone used to really enjoy those conferences.
The
early church also was very much involved in the corporate prayers. The new
converts were united with the other believers and included in the prayer
meetings and fellowship (Acts 2:42). Even Paul while writing to the Church at
Colossae and Ephesus asked them to pray for him (Col 4:3-4 Eph 6:19-20). When
Peter was in prison, the church gathered in Mark’s house to pray and Peter was
released miraculously.
Not
all the prayers we send to The Throne of Grace may have the dramatic and
miraculous answer that early church received for Peter’s sake. But it will help
us to recognize the other believers as brothers and sisters in the family of
God and also it will give a depth to our relationships with them. When we come
together for prayer, we empathize and know in depth the problems, difficulties
and spiritual warfare other brothers and sisters are going through. In turn, it
gives us confidence and courage that somebody is praying for us when we
ourselves are going through the problems. In addition, we can rejoice with
others in their victories and God’s work done in and through their lives.
I
recollect, 16 years back when one of our graduates was diagnosed with cancer,
we gathered together for prayers. All of us were weeping, sobbing and groaning
in prayers. Those prayers were not answered as we desired but all of us came to
know how much we loved that brother and how deeply we felt for one another. This
really united us in love and the unbelieving world witnessed it.
We
used to have all night prayers once a month at Bro. G. S. P Dhas’s house and
after continuing with that for some time, it was changed to once a month Sunday afternoon of prayer
where we really used to feel like one family. A deep bond of love and concern
for one another in the fellowship were established and we could see many of
those prayers are being answered even now.
I
know of three girls in a hostel who used to pray just for 5 minutes in one of
the girl’s room before going to college. Every day they used to pray for their
friends, staff and other things. God answered their prayers for their college
and did great things in their own lives too. One of the girls became staff
worker, another became a leader in her state EGF and another married a full
time worker.
In
closing I encourage all EGFs and EUs in the various zones to meet for prayer
whenever possible. The numbers does not
matter but the desire and availability is what matters. Not everyone may be able to attend every
prayer meeting but personally let each one of us try to find out the time,
place where the prayer meetings are held and try to participate. Because
together we can obey God fully than any of us could alone. It is our human
tendency to overestimate what we can do by ourselves and to underestimate what
we can do as a group. But as the body of Christ we can accomplish more than we
dream possible working by ourselves. We all need a group of people praying for
us.
By
praying together and loving each other we express the love of Christ to the
world.I
am looking forward to see you all personally on ‘UESI Day of Prayer’ on 2nd
October 2012. May God be glorified in and through our prayers.
SreeVani, EGF-West Delhi
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