September 26
Our part is to pray and believe. Watch unto prayer. Watch, and co-operate with the prayer-hearing God. Bear in mind that "we are labourers together with God." 1 Cor. 3:9. Speak and act in harmony with your prayers. It will make an infinite difference with you whether trial shall prove your faith to be genuine, or show that your prayers are only a form.
Christ’s Object Lessons p.146
“Speak and act in harmony with your prayers”. Our prayers reflect two interests. The first is for our own health. I take it to mean that you understand health is all about our physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being. We should remember that as we are inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives each day we are asking for spiritual health to grow.
The second strand to our prayers is that we are praying for the welfare of other people. Of course our primary interest here will be that we pray for our family and church, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples … by the love you have for one another”. However we are also praying for the group of people we have sat down and recognised God is calling us to help towards the kingdom.
“We should speak and act in harmony with our prayers”. In our prayers we are aiming to draw people closer to the Kingdom, closer to the community of God.
We are involved in the Netherfield Baptist Church Harvest Festival outreach this weekend, as well as beginning to plan our church strategy. How on earth could these activities fit in with our prayers for the people we would like to draw closer to God’s Kingdom and it’s activities?
We could invite the people we are praying for to come along to the harvest supper on Saturday night. They might appreciate a time to be with you and sharing food in a relaxed setting. You could invite your friend to the meeting on Sunday. Their comments and guidance may well be just the thing we need to hear as we plan to create a church that is healthy for our community.
If you are able to do this, and it may not be right at this time for your friend, then they are taking part in a church community event. They are being prepared to take part in community actions and activities – ready for the day when, by God’s Grace, they become participating members of the community.
They are also learning, and you will be discovering, that the journey into God’s kingdom begins as people recognise that we want them to belong to our community. They may then begin to believe in the founder of our community – and then may choose to behave as members of the community.
Belonging, believing and behaving is definitely the way to go – and reflects our headline, “Speak and act in harmony with your prayers”.
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