At this point the weather is looking clear for this Sunday, August 8th for an Outdoor Worship Service. We will then hope, weather permitting, to have a “bring your own lunch” together for anyone wishing to stay.
Isn’t it remarkable watching the various Olympic athletes and recognizing the high level of dedication that is required in order to participate? Most of us have favourite competitions that we like to view and perhaps some of us even imagine what it would be like to be one of those athletes. We read in Scripture from I Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” I recall that this was a theme verse for a young adults group that I belonged to several years ago. Whatever our age, the commitment required is intense in order to run this race of life for Jesus. Athletes train hard and prepare for the event in which they specialize. We as Christians, also train and prepare ourselves for running the race to win. A key and necessary part of our training is prayer. Time spent focusing on God and remaining true to the goal of pleasing Him will prepare us well for consistently running the race to win. Ultimately, the applause will not be for us, but rather for our God, Who urges and inspires us to run well. We can pray that we will not make the living of our lives for Christ a competition. That would see us always comparing ourselves to others. Instead, we run the race for God’s approval! When we pause for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow August 4th at 1 pm, we will be actively training for the way God wants us to run the race we have entered when we chose to follow Jesus.
Praying that our desire will be to run the race for Jesus, Pastor Lola
Thank you God for all the ways that You prepare us to run the race that You have marked out for us. Thank You God that as we run this race we are not alone. Through this gift of prayer, You equip and urge us on in what it means to run for You. Athletes represent their countries. We are humbled God to know that we represent You. We want You to be the reason that we give the running of this race everything we are and have. We never want the running of this race to be about seeking praise or admiration for us. And God please make us fit for running this race by removing anything that would impede running well. We ask that we will let Jesus be the One to set the pace. You know God how necessary self control will be in order for us to run well. Please supply this self control that we need through Your Holy Spirit. When we consider the stamina that will be required, we look to You to supply this as well. Where we need to forgive and be forgiven so that nothing will weigh us down, we trust Your grace to cover this need. We admit to You our God that recently running this race has not been easy. Sometimes we have wondered about our capacity to face all that we have been facing. We are thanking You that there is evidence that the pandemic is being brought under control. Still every day there are challenges for us to face. We do not want to become so focused on all that seems wrong that we miss seeing and thanking You for what is right and good. At this moment, we do thank You for equipping us for the race we are running. None of us knew what we would encounter, but You knew God and You continue to be well aware of what is ahead. In each of our lives, whatever we are dealing with, we want to learn more and more to depend on You. We want to find our strength and determination in You. Sometimes our God, when we come to You in prayer, we can’t begin to know how to express all that we are thinking and feeling. You God are like a wise Coach who knows our potential and can help us to discover all that we can be as we run this race with our eyes fixed on Jesus. It is our prayer that we will run alongside each other so that we can be an encouragement when one of us feels like we cannot keep going. Only You God know all that will be accomplished for Your kingdom as people like us run this race. God, rather than having people remember us and what we have done, we want people to remember You and Your love revealed through us. As we steadily run this race, we pray for Your Divine rhythms of rest and movement. When it is time to run, we want to run and when it is time to rest, we want to rest. Please show us how You want this to be. May every breath we take and every move we make be all for Jesus who does constantly inspire us for the running of this race. We pray in His Name. AMEN.