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Prayer Updates

Posted by: BettyMyers on Fri, Feb 3, 2012

Check out the prayer list, see who you can be praying for.

Prayer Requests: (Please note, at the beginning of each month the prayer list will start anew. If you want to be listed on the prayer list in the bulletin, or have your named removed from the list, please let the office know by calling 349-2603.) 

Compassion Prayer Child of the Week: Katherine Enamorado in Honduras sponsored by Dawn Smith.

Birthdays: 2/6, Kelly Hart; 2/8, Bob Myers. 

Aprontree: Gambel Wilson, Raymond Rhine.

Menno Haven: Margaret Metcalfe. Manorcare: Pauline & Crystal Strite

Homebound: Jim Campbell, Carl Magee, Floyd Baker.

Those battling cancer: Max Miller, Elizabeth Yeager, Lois Boozel, Rodney Peck, Naomi Piper, Grace Rowett, Carol Baker, Sue Snowden, Carol Ramsey, Eric Lidholm, Destiny Devlin, Dan McAllen, Kenny Gipe, Patti Varner, Geraldine Shoop, Sue Geist, Lucy Snyder, Sonny O’Donnell, Stuart Ulsh, Albert Pye, Clarence Trump.

Prayers needed: Wally Brindle, Sharon Yeager, Kathy Jo (Irwin) Lapp, David Covert, Tim & Peg Browning, Joyce Treible, Blanche Umbrell, Jane Miller, John Stewart, Lois & Isaac Frehn, Victor Lewey, Clair Zeigler, Dale & Duane Frazier, Mark & JoAnne Foltz, Peyton Hammond, Kaysie Hammond, Marian Carbaugh, Chase Eutzy, Connie Berrier, Kitty Ingram, Toni Rehrer, the family of Beth Faulder, Hannah Palm, Averee Byers.

Preparation for Pastoral Ministry: Dennis & Jodi Dillman

Missionaries: Scott & Diane Karper (Honduras), Virginia Hoover

(East Asia), Juan & Shirley Ocasio (Republic of Georgia), Diane Pomroy (Child Evangelism Fellowship, PA), Zach Oyler, (Campus Outreach).

Serving the USA away from home: Nathan Parsons (Virginia), Caleb Price, Alan Junkin, Colton Bair (Japan), Justin Bannister, Dustin Karper, Jared Wagner, Stephen Goshorn (Afghanistan), Steven Morris, David Boyer.

Our College Students: Robbin McClure, Brooke Parson, (Ship.); Ben Walters & Matt Gaston (Lockhaven); Laurie Ruby (Messiah); Neil Hill (Waynesburg); Angie Ruby (Penn State Main Campus); Nick Parsons (Penn State Altoona); Andrew & Laura Thatcher (Penn State Mont Alto); Robin Coons (Wilson College); Nicole Parker (Purdue University); Kim Miller; Ashley Baker; Ashleigh Parsons (University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown); Dalton Price (Pennsylvania College of Technology).

Because of new privacy laws, if you go into the hospital, please have a family member call the church to let us know you're there. We want to visit you and pray for you! Also, if the pastor is away and you know one of our members is in the hospital, please call the church office and leave a message. Messages are checked regularly.
 
 
PRAYER TEAM: 

 
Sunday Mornings at 10:35 AM in the baby comfort room behind the Sanctuary. Everyone welcome to join!
 
 
 
PRAYER CHAIN:
 
If you have a concern for the prayer chain, please start the chain by calling Rev. Meagan Boozer at 349-2603 or 360-4878, Elsie Baker at 349-2461 or Brenda Hart at 349-7540 or 658-4300. Prayer concerns are kept confidential within the members of the prayer chain if requested by those asking for prayer.
 
 

 

REFLECTIONS ON UNANSWERED PRAYER, Part 1 & 2

by Brenda Hart, prayer ministry coordinator

There are often times in our life where we feel God doesn’t answer our prayers. We feel that God is not listening to our requests and petitions. I think everyone has had this thought throughout their lifetime. Here are some of the reasons we think we have an unanswered prayer:

God’s Sovereignty

Unconfessed sin

Lack of faith

Lack of perseverance

Timing

Wrong motives

God’s will, not our will

Relationship with others


God’s Sovereignty-John 15:7-8 says “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to the Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Are we in fellowship with Him and His Word? Will it bring Him the most glory?

Unconfessed sin-In 1 Peter 3:12, Peter writes: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Ask the Lord to reveal your unconfessed sin to you – then confess your sins and ask Jesus to forgive you. He will! Sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:1,2 states: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, not his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

Lack of faith-Matthew 21: 22, “ If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” In our prayers we must have the faith and believe in the finished results of our prayers. Our faith must not waiver. Ask the Lord to give you more faith! James 1:6 tells us that: “ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Lack of Perseverance-Be persistent in asking with our prayers. Sometimes we give up praying because we feel God will not answer. Keep believing and don’t quit, no matter how long it takes. Remember that parable that Jesus told his disciples of the widow in Luke 18:1-8 who was persistent in coming to the judge to grant her mercy against her adversary. Eventually the judge saw that she got justice because of her persistence in not giving up. Matthew 7:7,8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Timing- Psalm 40:1 tells us: "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and head my cry." We as humans want things done our way and in our timing, usually right away. We must be patient and learn to trust in the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 says "for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways."

Wrong motives- Are our prayers for our own desires and worldly pleasrues? Are we praying for the wrong things? So often our prayers are self-centered. We pray for things that we desire. James 4:3 states "when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." We must humble ourselves before God and desire His approval. We may pray with good intentions, only to have God deny our prayers. This is a way of directing us to a greater purpose in our life.

God's will, not our will- The apostle John writes in 1 John 5:14-15: "this confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of Him." We often demand what we want, when we need to pray what He wants for us. When we pray according to His will, we can be confident that He will honor our requests and petitions.

Relationship with others- If we have a problem with others we should resolve it as soon as possible. Our attitude and hatred with others affect our relationship with God. "So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5:23-24. Our prayers will be hindered if our relationship with others is not right. Our relationship with God suffers also.

In closing, the Lord desires an intimate relationship with us. He does answer our prayers with His grace and mercy and not by our good works and deeds. Hold tight to His command: "Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12. As Garth Brooks' song goes: "Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."

 

WHAT IS PRAYERWALKING?
by Brenda Hart, Prayer Ministry Coordinator

“PRAYING ON SITE WITH INSIGHT”

WHAT?
Prayerwalking is a form of intercession. It is praying at a strategic area of location while walking. It is just another way of joining Him in what He is doing. 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

WHO?
ANYONE! Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20. You can also do it alone or go in groups.

WHY?
Prayerwalking is time set aside to walk and pray, praising God and interceding for others. What a powerful tool to claim God’s promises on behalf of the people in that area! It opens the eyes and hearts of those who are praying. It bears fruit that lasts. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

HOW?
-Simply walk & pray.
-Keep your eyes open and observe what the Holy Spirit may be showing you. (You’ll also want them opened to
see where you are going!)
-Pray out loud, it keeps you focused, and it also allows others in the group to hear and come into an agreement.
-Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It’s okay to be silent from time to time and just listen to the Spirit.-“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Romans 8:26.
-Pray using scripture that may come to mind. Meditate on the Word!
-Always give praise and thanksgiving to our Lord. “Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” Psalm 113:2-3.

WHEN?
Prayerwalking can be done anytime. Pray while walking throughout our daily schedule whether we are at work, school, or home.

WHERE?
Places to do prayerwalking: Neighborhoods, parks, churches, schools, government agencies, businesses, our workplace, places where there are strongholds of satan such as where drug deals take place, places that create a spiritual blindness and bondage on people, keeping them from seeing “The Truth”. Micah 4:5 tells us “All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”