“Turning Points: Asking
for Help and A Prayer Ministry” Part 2
Last week, overwhelmed by email requests for prayer, I desperately needed help and scriptural guidance. That’s when I discovered the story of a Roman officer who taught the Jews a lesson in faith, “Just say the word from where you are, Jesus, and my servant will be healed.” (Luke 7:6-10) His trust in Jesus helped me learn that it’s never too late to ask for help. Faith is my willingness to trust in God’s answer. Meanwhile, prayer needs continued to arrive by email. (Names changed)
- Marsha (Minnesota) My 20-year-old twin daughters are leaving home. They both suffer with learning disabilities. I pray their co-workers will be patient and help them succeed.
- Holly (Kentucky) My boyfriend has decided to go into the ministry. We are both seeking God’s will for our lives and hope to stay close together.
- Sharon (California) My son and his wife and five children. Their house caught fire and they still have no home, as they are low income. Nearly everything was lost.
- Alex (Virginia) Granddaughter has non-Hodgkin’s, T-cell lymphoma cancer. She has a growth in her chest, near her heart and has spots and holes in her kidneys…
First: I needed to kick myself, hard. These prayer requests weren’t burdens… far from it. God is giving me a breathtaking opportunity to provide ministry for the needs of others around the world. I clearly must learn how to replace worry over what “I” will do with faith in what “God” can do. After all, people are seeking guidance from God, not me. I am simply being asked to pray.
Once again, God provided a “turning point” in my life. The question is: “What would I do with it?”
With renewed enthusiasm, I began to pray… really pray. When each request flashes across the computer screen, I’m learning to bow my head and say a prayer for their situation now not later. On the Sowing Seeds Ministry website, I asked volunteers to email me at Sowseeds@hovac.com and pray with me. Hundreds have responded. Each week, I email them a list of “prayer needs.
A thought kept nagging me. “What about the church I serve? Shouldn’t they be involved?”
On Sunday, March 5, 2000 our little church in Keysville, Virginia devoted a worship service to healing and prayer. Copies of the nearly 100 email requests from around the world were distributed to every member of our congregation. As each prayer need was read aloud someone holding that particular request would stand and agree to continue praying throughout the week. Soon, every man, woman and child in the congregation was standing and praying for another.
No longer were we simply asking God to be active in national and world events. We were praying for real people around the world and their specific needs. Somehow our prayers became more significant. The worship service ended with Holy Communion. Groups of people moved to the altar to receive the bread and cup symbolizing the body and blood of Jesus Christ. But this time, each person brought their email prayer requests to the altar and received communion for two.
For us, the time-honored liturgy of Holy Communion took on a new implication, “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world.”
What started as a problem soon became an exciting opportunity for growth and ministry. Those who asked for prayer are already noticing changes and discovering answers. Our church is excited about being an active partner in a new prayer ministry. And me? I’ve changed too. When new prayer needs flash across the computer screen, I’m not burdened anymore. I finally realize there is plenty of help just waiting to be asked. Isn’t this what being the church is all about?
William Temple wrote: “When I pray, coincidences happen and when I do not, they don’t.”
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