This resolution of Daily United Prayer is based on An Humble Attempt, originally put forward by Jonathan Edwards in 1748. Its design is to encourage God's people in the duty of united extraordinary prayer; setting aside some time every day to pray for the revival of His church and the advancement of Christ's kingdom in our homes, in our churches, in our nation, and in the world.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)
Yesterday morning, a group of prayer participants in the Greenville area had the opportunity to meet together, enjoy breakfast, have a time of prayer, and take a tour through the progress of The Vault on the campus of BJU. It was a great blessing to finally meet some of these familiar faces .. and hear some familiar voices!
I'm not sure where you are these days, but this is a season of weariness for me. Yesterday, Matt gave us copies of a new book that he published called, "Pathway to Prayer." It is a compilation of quotations on prayer from authors of the past, including Baxter, Bonar, Spurgeon, and Murray. I was blessed in reading one of the quotes from Baxter:
"As going to the fire is our way when we are cold, to cure our numbness, so reading over some part of a warm and quickening book, will do much to warm and quicken a benumbed soul: and it is a great help to rouse us up to prayer or meditation, and put life into us before we address ourselves more nearly unto God. I have found it myself a great help."
This is precisely why we need to compass ourselves about with a great cloud of witnesses. When we are cold, we need to warm ourselves by the fire. Some of you are strong and making great strides with the Lord. Others of us, like Peter, are lagging behind, following afar off, and doing our best to shake off the lethargy and lukewarmness. We need to help one another to keep the fires burning brightly in our hearts. One of the ways God has ordained to do this is with the company of God's gathered people.
We need to seek God's face together.
DAILY UNITED PRAYER unitedprayer.net
Mon-Fri @ 12pm EDT // Sat @ 10am EDT
We invite you to join our dedicated and earnest group of praying participants of all ages from around the world that meet every day over Zoom to pray. At the start of each prayer call, a different individual will bring a brief Scriptural meditation. Here's the most recent: