Some months after the 9/11 attacks on our country, the church I was attending at the time, Saint Clements in El Paso, invited a speaker who had spent more than two decades working among the Kurdish people in Iraq as a missionary. He had written several books about Islam and had dedicated his life to evangelizing this group of people who were persecuted minorities in their own nation.
As part of the conference, he told us that when we meet and interact with Muslims, if those interactions go well and the Muslims decide that we might be good candidates for conversion to Islam, our new acquaintances will tell us that they want to teach us to how to pray five times a day. “If anyone says those words to you,” he told us, “you know that they are trying to convert you. Answer this way, ‘Why only five times? Our Bible teaches us to pray without ceasing. (I Thessalonians 5:17).’”
Thursday May 2nd is the National Day of Prayer, when all of those of us who know Jesus Christ will come together to pray for our nation. But we know that one day of prayer is not nearly enough for a nation or for a people or for a family. We need to become a people who ‘pray without ceasing’--for the world, for our nation, for our government, for our families, for our cities, for our neighbors.
Starting today, for the next month our theme is going to be “Pray without ceasing.” We will be sharing scriptures about prayer, teachings about prayer, and copies of prayers including the official prayer for the National Day of Prayer authored by Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship. We also want to hear from you about your experiences with prayer. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000m... and tell us about how God answered a prayer either in your own life or the life of a family member, and how the answer to that prayer impacted your life.
From among the stories we receive, on May 3rd we will select five winners to receive paperback copies of The Warrior—Joyce’s acclaimed novel about how one woman’s faithful intercessory prayer for a man she has never met changes not only his life but the lives of many other people as well. The Warrior is a moving story of God’s faithfulness towards those who seek Him diligently, and it will make an inspirational Mother’s Day gift.
May God hear and honor each prayer as we earnestly seek Him and pray for our world, our nation, our communities, and our families. Joyce SwannJoyce SwannThe Warrior
As part of the conference, he told us that when we meet and interact with Muslims, if those interactions go well and the Muslims decide that we might be good candidates for conversion to Islam, our new acquaintances will tell us that they want to teach us to how to pray five times a day. “If anyone says those words to you,” he told us, “you know that they are trying to convert you. Answer this way, ‘Why only five times? Our Bible teaches us to pray without ceasing. (I Thessalonians 5:17).’”
Thursday May 2nd is the National Day of Prayer, when all of those of us who know Jesus Christ will come together to pray for our nation. But we know that one day of prayer is not nearly enough for a nation or for a people or for a family. We need to become a people who ‘pray without ceasing’--for the world, for our nation, for our government, for our families, for our cities, for our neighbors.
Starting today, for the next month our theme is going to be “Pray without ceasing.” We will be sharing scriptures about prayer, teachings about prayer, and copies of prayers including the official prayer for the National Day of Prayer authored by Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship.
We also want to hear from you about your experiences with prayer. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000m... and tell us about how God answered a prayer either in your own life or the life of a family member, and how the answer to that prayer impacted your life.
From among the stories we receive, on May 3rd we will select five winners to receive paperback copies of The Warrior—Joyce’s acclaimed novel about how one woman’s faithful intercessory prayer for a man she has never met changes not only his life but the lives of many other people as well. The Warrior is a moving story of God’s faithfulness towards those who seek Him diligently, and it will make an inspirational Mother’s Day gift.
May God hear and honor each prayer as we earnestly seek Him and pray for our world, our nation, our communities, and our families.
Joyce Swann