Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
—Colossians 1:9
One of the inspiring things about the earliest churches that were following The Way (Jesus) is that they were small, tight-knit, shared much love, and were passionate about evangelism. They had a message in the Good News that was so incredible that they could not keep it to themselves. That message was about death from life, forgiveness from sin, holiness, and loving God and neighbors. I’m thankful they chose to share that Good News with the communities in which they were located, and with each other as they worshipped, broke bread together, shared what they had, and prayed fervently for each other.
When the Apostle Paul was unable to physically be with the churches he had a hand in birthing through his own evangelism and spreading the Good News, he prayed for them. And not only Paul, but those with Paul, and everyone who Paul could tell about these new gatherings of believers. When Paul prayed, it was more than, “Lord, protect them…” Paul and his companions prayed specifically that God would fill them with knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. That’s a very specific prayer for these new believers who were growing in faithfulness and what it meant to leave their old lives behind and follow a man who lived, died, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, AND who was/is praying for them, as well. Paul constantly and consistently prayed that the believers in the churches in that region would have their minds and hearts expanded more and more so that Jesus became more and more the center of all they did and said.
In some ways, the Global Methodist Church is new and we’re still learning what it means to follow Jesus together in this new way. Even more so, the Northeast Provisional Annual Conference is but a week old! What that means, specifically, is that we all need to be praying for each other, “…asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Just like the early church, we will make mistakes and things will happen slower than we want. Our churches will keep growing and learning how to be Global Methodists, as we center all we do on Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And, remember, Jesus is praying for us as well, as we see in John 17. By the power of prayer, we will be inspired to worship, love, and witness as agents of a holy God who loves us and wants the world to know that.
I’m praying for you! Let’s go!
