Seeking Jesus and His Kingdom -- 40 Days of Prayer
A little over a month ago, our church began 20 Days of Prayer. Each day, a member of our church chose a Scripture verse and composed a prayer, which was then emailed to the entire congregation. We designed this program of scripture and prayer to culminate on Easter Sunday. By then, we believed, our church would be back on a normal worship schedule. Well, we were overly optimistic. We are still shut in and our worship services are still being live streamed.
It is more important than ever to acknowledge God’s presence with us and to foster a sense of community until we can begin to meet in person. And not just in our churches, but in the Church worldwide.
To this end, we are beginning another prayer initiative called 40 days of prayer. We chose the 40 days to begin on April 22 and end on Pentecost, which is May 31. I am carrying these prayers on my blog in the hope that others beyond my church walls will be blessed as well.
As you know, 40 is a significant number in Scripture. For example, In Acts 1 we read that Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection:
“He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard me speak about . . . But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 3, 4; 8 NIV).
The church has always considered this waiting time a season of preparation. Let us think this way also – God is using this time to separate us from the things of the world, He is giving us a time of rest. He is preparing us to receive His Holy Spirit in a new way, and then to release His Kingdom with power when this waiting time is over. Hopefully, this will happen by the end of May, but the timing is His.
We trust you find these emails encouraging and uplifting as we join together around the world in prayer.
Be blessed by His Spirit,
John Van Wagoner