2 April 2007

Prayer Letter

To: Prayer Partners

From: Pastor Lucenay

Easter week draws our attention to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospels present the story from different viewpoints. You can read the story in Matthew 26, 27, 28; Mark 14, 15, 16; Luke 23, 24; and John 19, 20, 21. Each account gives a little different perspective but this should be a word of encouragement as we are reading the accounts of four different writers. Different people see things in different ways.

This week I want to think about the story of the crucifixion and resurrection through the words of Paul. Paul was not a follower of Jesus until after the crucifixion. However, he gives us keen insight into a very practical understanding of the crucifixion. Paul wrote I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10, 11).

I think many Christians in today’s world want to experience the power of the resurrection without the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. I don’t know many healthy people who want to suffer. In fact, I think I am safe to say most people would like to escape any form of suffering. Paul is not suggesting that his sufferings or our sufferings serve to provide our salvation. Rather, he is saying that the way of the Christian is a continual path of denying self, putting to death the things that are not of Christ, and being resurrected to the things that are of Christ. Such steps bring suffering and sacrifice on the part of those who seek to become like Christ.

As we pray these verses this week, we do well to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal the places in our hearts where selfishness and sin still reign. Our involvement with the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings will invite us to quit giving life to the things the Holy Spirit reveals to us as not of Christ. Such prayer will no doubt involve the thoughts that occupy our minds, our conversations, and, maybe, activities that God chooses to address. Questions to explore in prayer which could initiate progress in this prayer might be: what thoughts living in my mind would embarrass me before God; what sacrifices is God inviting me to make that require I give up something I want just for myself; what problems exist in the world around me that God would like for me to join Him in addressing; which part of my life shouts “me, me, me” at the expense of others?

When the Spirit of God begins to tug at our hearts we begin to discover the process of laying down the life we know for something bigger than self. Such can be identified with the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. Is there any one thing that you have undertaken in the past year that could be identified with this part of God’s Word? If so, how did God work his somehow? God’s somehow involves God’s work in ways that escape our planning and understanding. If not, should the fact that you cannot think of a way that you have been a part of the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings in the past year be a concern to you in your prayer life? Invite God to guide you in finding His answers for your search.

Where have you seen the power of his resurrection in your life in the past few months? Have you expressed your praise to God for working in this part of your life? If you have not seen evidence of the power of the resurrection in your life recently, ask God to help you think though what the power of the resurrection would look like for you.

This week we are praying for the special services and the many people who will be attending. We pray that God’s people will be encouraged in these services and that the pre-believers will be drawn by the Holy Spirit to explore faith in Jesus Christ and commit their lives to our Savior. Please ask the Spirit of God to move on, in and through the musicians, the Scripture readers, the people who will share their testimonies and be baptized, the worshipers, and the pastor as he preaches the messages.

Ask God to make the crucifixion very real to us as we share in the Good Friday service. Ask God to help each participant in worship to sense the tragedy of the cross and the reality that Jesus died for each of us so we could live in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your prayer support. I suspect all of us have plenty to do this week. Let’s make certain we make time to rediscover the heart of God in the events of the crucifixion and resurrection. May God stir your heart and mine this week.