Prayer

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“God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer 

or withheld his love from me!”

(Psalm 66:19-20 NIV)

If you are reading this you can be assured that we are praying for you. We may not know you yet, but we believe that prayer is so important that we are lifting you up to God right now so that you may know the love which God has for you.  

We at St Andrew’s Lutheran Church believe in the power of prayer and we not only regularly pray for each other, but we also pray for the lives of all people – that they might be touched by God’s free gift of salvation which changes lives. The power of prayer is manifested here in many wondrous ways; from healing to faith.

“No one can believe how powerful prayer is and what it can effect, except those who have learned it by experience. Whenever I have prayed earnestly, I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for. God sometimes delays, but He always comes” (Rev Dr. Martin Luther).  

The Apostle Paul highlights the importance of prayer exhorting us to “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:11-12 NIV). Prayer is foundational to our faith journey and in the production of the fruit of the spirit as it infuses our worship and individual lives. Jesus Christ often went off to pray in private to His Father in heaven while also teaching his disciples how to pray using the familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer which we faithfully recite together every Sunday.  

In the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to John Jesus prays for his disciples as well as for all future believers (which can include you), saying “my prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message (John 17:20 NIV). What a blessing it should be to know that not only are we at St Andrew’s Lutheran praying for you but so is Jesus Christ.  

Of course, we also know that not all prayer is answered in our timing or the in the way we might want it answered. We trust in God to hear and to answer prayer in a way that is best for us. Then, we rejoice when we see the power of God working in peoples’ lives because of prayer. God’s great love is experienced in prayer and that’s when we can confidently proclaim ‘soli deo gloria’ (Glory to God alone).