Jesus told his followers to pray and said that God answers prayer. He made that clear. "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"
(Matt 7:7,8). Though it is easy for us to lose faith in prayer, we must prevail despite the disappointments. Jesus wouldn't call us to waste time in some pointless activity or ritual. If we have faith in Christ, then we must practice prayer.

In this week's Message About Purpose and Strategy, I want to remind you that prayer is our access to God's power to accomplish his will. It doesn't precede ministry; it is ministry. It's impossible for us to fulfill our commission without God's supernatural power accessed by prayer.

It is amazing, but this is how God set things up. He actually allows our communication to have an impact. Interestingly, there are times when it is not our circumstances that have to change; we do. And at those times the miracle is that prayer is used by God to change our hearts. There are times when God opens our hearts rather than the particular door we had in mind. Prayer affects the one who prays as we learn to depend on God and to see things his way.

As a church, let's recommit ourselves to passionate prayer.