Minister’s Blog

When is the right time to pray? God expects His people to pray when they are experiencing crises in their lives because our God is the God of all comfort and the source of our strengths. Crisis praying is not the only time we petition God. God deserves our prayers of thanksgiving and praise when He has generously given us what we need with an extra portion tossed in for good measure. Actually there is no wrong time to pray! Anytime is the best time to pray!

The best answer to the question about the right time to pray is, “Now!” Now is the time to pray whether it be the present moment or tomorrow’s distant “now.” I believe as I stated on Sunday morning, September 21, that the single greatest factor is the early church’s influence upon the people of the first century was prayer. They prayed ten days before the church was created according to Acts 1. The first converts to Jesus Christ continued daily in prayers according to Acts 2. In Acts chapter 3, the Apostles observed the hour of prayer in the temple at 3:00 in the afternoon. Prayer saturated the life of the early church.

As a church, the time to pray is now because we are standing on the horizon of major decisions about the future. We need to pray for God to give us His wisdom to make decisions now that will affect our future in a positive way. We pray for God to give us the courage and strength to set the pace with our sacrifices to Him as we anticipate a major building/relocation program. Relocating to new property and building a completely new facility is so beyond our present ability that God must be involved. It is time to pray. I request you spend more time in prayer than worrying about the future needs of the church. God will answer us. God will give us wisdom to guide us into the future.

One of our nation’s war heroes was asked this question while rescuing a fellow wounded soldier while under heavy attack, “Were you afraid?” He truthfully answered, “I was scared to death but I refused to let my fears control me.” I encourage you to be as afraid of a new building and relocation program as you are afraid of any major decision you will be making in your life. The bigger the idea the greater will be the fear. Anything great attempted for God will carry a fear of failure. The old hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, says, “O what peace we often forfeit, o what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” A more contemporary lyric says, “Come, now is the time to worship. Come, now is the time to give your heart. Come.”

In His Service,
Terry Jones, Senior Minister