A week of prayer

Albrecht Dürer’s classic “Praying Hands” image (c. 1508).

by Glenn Schaeffer

Martin Luther reminds us in his Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism that “God invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear Father.”

We have many reasons to talk with our Father, but here are just a few:

• To thank and praise Him for His grace and mercy!
• To adore Him as the Creator of heaven and earth!
• To confess our failings and to rejoice in the blood-cleansing forgiveness of Jesus Christ!
• To rejoice in Christ’s resurrection and reign!
• To request He provide workers for the ripe harvest that is at hand!
• To seek His wisdom and guidance as we adjust to being His followers in a post-church era!
• To implant in us and in our congregations, His desire to be His witnesses to our family, friends, and neighbours.
• To entreat that He instill in us a hunger and thirst for His Word!
• To intercede for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their Christian faith!

Really our prayer list is endless.

As Jesus’ followers we are faced with the daunting task of living our Christian faith in an increasingly hostile and indifferent world. Congregations in North America are greying and shrinking. The glory years of Christian privilege in Canada are relegated to a bygone era.

As Jesus’ followers we are faced with the daunting task of living our Christian faith in an increasingly hostile and indifferent world.

And so, what do Jesus’ followers do? We heed our Father’s invitation. We pray boldly and confidently!

The Alberta-British Columbia (ABC) District invites you to make January 18-25, 2015 a special week of prayer. You are encouraged to fill this week with prayer… prayer services, prayer walks, individual prayer, prayer vigils… as you come to Him who answers prayer.

With this goal in mind numerous prayer resources have been created and posted online:

• Bible study prayer resources  and links to prayer books
• Advent/Lenten sermonic ideas concerning prayer
• “How to guides” for organizing prayer walking and prayer vigils
• Prayer request guides
• A Sunday service focused on prayer

These prayer resources are posted on the ABC District webpage: www.lccabc.ca/prayer.

Let’s heed our Father’s gracious invitation and come to Him who answers prayer, especially as we entreat the Lord of the harvest to send labourers (that’s us!) into His vineyard to sow, cultivate, and reap His abundant harvest!

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Rev. Dr. Glenn Schaeffer is Executive Assistant-Outreach for the Alberta-British Columbia District of Lutheran Church–Canada. He blogs at “Go!“, a site dedicated to encouraging God’s people to participate in Christ’s mission of seeking and saving the lost.

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