Welcome: A number of you are receiving this weekly devotional prayer letter for the very first time, responding to the prayer insert from last week. So glad you are on-board. I appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to pray each week over the prayer needs listed. And I always appreciate feedback and comments to the letter, so feel free to email back and express anything on your heart. The overriding purpose of this letter is four-fold…
- To impart encouragement, inspiration, faith, love and hope.
- To elevate God and to never stop writing about His wonder and awesomeness.
- To keep all of you connected with the life of Little Church by the Sea
- To present pressing prayer needs, asking you to take a few moments to pray over them
Why Pray? We pray because prayer releases God’s will. It changes what appears to be unchangeable. It shows we care. It is a way to love others. It’s comforting. Encouraging. It builds faith and gives us connection with God. We pray because fervent prayer accomplishes much (James 5:16). So much! We pray because Jesus said we should pray. He said to pray often and not lose heart (Luke 18:1). We pray because the early church was devoted to prayer (Acts 2:42) and so should we. We pray because there are those too broken to pray for themselves so we stand for them and with them. They are not alone.
A Word on Prayer: “When a storm comes upon me it does not matter. Nothing human or earthly can touch me. A wilder storm of peace gathers in my heart. What seems unpossessable, I can possess. What is unutterable I can utter. Because I pray. I can communicate. How do people endure anything on earth if they don’t have God?” Dr. Thomas A. Dooley
Prayer Focus This Week (thanks for taking a few minutes to pray)
- Pray for our Sunday School ministry, one of the most vital and important areas of Little Church. Please pray for wisdom, discernment, protection and power in the lives of Pastor Toby and her wonderful assistant Kori, as well as all the volunteers.
- Josh Sourwine’sfamily is in some crisis in Ohio. His dad is in ICU with multiple issues and his 87 year old grandfather needs one leg amputated.
- Pray for all the new studiesat Little Church, that the Word of God will become alive and those attending with find friendship.
- Pray for our interns,Taylor, Logan, Aubrey and Kevin as Impact (Junior High) and Refuge (Senior High) fires up again this week. Pray tons of kids will attend, that the youth leaders will shepherd these kids with wisdom and insight and many will yield their young lives to Christ.
- Healing– Charlie Johnson, Denise de la Torre, David Kessner, Taffy Eagle, Steve Doherty, Debbie DeSimone, Walter and Kelly Viszolay
- Pray for the teaching on Sundays in the Book of Acts
- Pastors/Elders/Deacons always need covering as well asKelly Fleming who oversees the office.
Giving Praise: for the healing of Lynda Peters from stage 4 cancer, a job for Sylvia Moore, and salvation of Aunt Jackie who was near death.
Also giving God praise for the wedding of Miranda Prado and Eric Mendeleev, last week. They look like film stars, a fabulous couple. One of my favorites weddings.
Final Thought: “God is more interested in your character than your comfort.” Rick Warren
Pastor Jay