A Word from Worship
Greetings New Life Church family and friends,
When you read this, the Thanksgiving holiday will most likely be over. I pray it was filled with time shared with family and good friends, love, laughter and lots of delicious food. It's a wonderful day to acknowledge all those things and more. The truth is, we are blessed to live in an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving every day through our faith. We learn about this gift, and I think it's a huge gift, as we develop our prayer practice. When we moved here in 2004 and joined this church, I was a panic prayer - prayed mostly when I was in a situation that panicked me. Over time, prayer has become as important as eating. I know- it sounds dramatic but if you know me, prayer has made an incredible difference in my life. Each morning, I begin the day with prayer, asking God to help me share something about prayer or faith from at least one person that day. I am blessed each day and I want you to be blessed also. People ask me all the time "how to" pray. While there is no special formula, my simple prayer at first was" Jesus help me". I think saying the name of Jesus is one of the most powerful prayers you can say;
* anytime
* anywhere
* anyplace
* in any situation
You don't have to be perfect. I'm not! I've decided to get up early and fall asleep halfway through prayer time. In early days I prayed to lose weight and gained 5 pounds. Sometimes we make it far too complicated, when prayer is simply talking with and listening to our Lord - who loves us dearly. I can only share my experiences, but I tell everyone to please not get discouraged. I've been asked;
* do we have to kneel? No- I physically can't.
* do we have to close our eyes?
No- unless you want to.
* if God doesn't answer right away- is He mad at us? No
I have learned that God's answers are in His time, not ours. Over these past years I have learned that the important thing is to pray with boldness and never give up.
I know I'm not alone when I tell you that people reach out and ask about something I've written or a comment I've made, which opens up an opportunity to talk about prayer experiences. I'm not special, and sometimes I start to feel discouraged- but I want to share a prayer I return to when I need to stand strong:
Father - I want to be relentless in prayer. I don't want to give up. I want to ask and keep asking. I want to knock and keep knocking. Sometimes I lose hope. I want to pray through to an answer. Holy Spirit keep me strong. Amen.
I want to share more about prayer because my life has been changed by the power of prayer. I want you all to be able to share this power with others. We have many prayer warriors at New Life Church and I'd like more of you to join us. If you are unable to attend either of our Prayer groups during the week, I have a challenge that everyone can do. Advent begins in one week so what a perfect time to start praying. The challenge is easy. Set your phone alarm for 12 noon for every day of the week and at noon each day say the Lord's Prayer. Share this challenge with your family and friends and ask them to pray too. The world needs our prayers!
Don't forget: we will be decorating the campus for Christmas on Monday 11/27 and Tuesday 11/28. Monday we will be getting boxes moved out of storage into the appropriate buildings and Tuesday we will decorate trees etc. Please check in with me in the Life Center at 9 am for instructions.
Have a blessed week and don't forget The Lord's Prayer at noon!
I am blessed by your comments and encouragement.
I am praying for you all!
Rosie Young
Worship Coordinator
rosie@newlifeforall.church
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