Dear Friends in Christ:

A statement by Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in British Columbia, recently caught my attention. He said: “There has been a shift in our society from God at the center to men and women at the center so that, unlike most of our ancestors, whether biblical or pagan, we no longer live in a praying world. We have grown up in a world in which the primary way in which language is used is by men and women talking to and listening to one another, not listening to and answering to God.” Stanley Grenz picked up on that theme in 2005 (before meeting a sudden death from a brain aneurysm at the age of 56 - he was a good friend of mine and married for over 30 years to my second-cousin, Edna Sturhahn) in his revised book, Prayer:  The Cry for the Kingdom. He states:  “The greatest challenge facing the church of Jesus Christ today, and therefore every local congregation, is motivating the people of God to engage in sincere, honest, fervent prayer.”
Throughout church history, an awakening to prayer among the people of God has constituted the key to church renewal. God is the author of renewal but God wills the cooperation of human instruments. In Colossians 4:2-4 the Apostle Paul declares forthrightly: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”
Ultimately, all supplication is a request for God to act. It is a cry for the kingdom. It is a request that God’s rule break into the present. Such prayer embodies the plea “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Situations of Christian concern for prayer include:

1) Praying for those who have not committed their lives to Christ. This would include specific concern for friends, colleagues, acquaintances, or relatives whom we would like to see come to the Lord remembering that it is God’s will for everyone to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth ( read 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4).
2) Praying for the world situation. This includes intercessory prayer for political leaders who play an important role in maintaining peace and security. Paul instructs Timothy: “I urge you, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). We are to pray for peace, not so that we might live comfortably, but for the unbridled proclamation of the gospel.
3) Praying for Christ’s missionaries. Paul urges:  “Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith” (2 Thess. 3:1, 2). We need to include earnest prayers for missionary recruitment because Jesus said: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38).
4) Praying for other Christians. Interceding for fellow believers is a crucial aspect of our calling to be the “priesthood of believers.” Jesus declared to his Heavenly Father:  “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:15-17). As Jesus did for us we need to do for one another by invoking God’s protecting presence and inviting the Spirit’s sanctifying work so that we might be built up through the truth that is God’s Word.
5) Praying for God’s will to be known. In every situation we can pray for wisdom and discernment remembering the words of James:  “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).
6) Praying for the sick. James writes:  “Is any of you sick? Call the elders of the church to pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 1:4). We never know what God is going to do but we are called to pray for the sick. The immediate or gradual response may come in the form of restoration of health. Or it may be limited to spiritual strengthening. In either case, we know that the greater divine response is yet future. One day, all of our prayers for healing will be fully answered as death is swallowed up in victory, and all creation is renewed in the glorious kingdom of God.

Jesus taught that we should persevere in prayer and never give up because we have a loving Heavenly Father who desires and is able to give good things to His children (see Luke 11:9-13; 18:2-5). Stanley Grenz states: “The greatest challenge that we face today is the challenge to pray. We must cease talking about prayer and begin to pray. Let us, therefore, pray. Let us invoke the in-breaking of the kingdom into the situations of life that we face. Let us cry for the kingdom!”
I traveled throughout the United States and Canada from 1970- 1971 on an evangelistic team with Stanley Grenz. He is dearly missed and I am ever thankful for having known him. The above insights on prayer are summarized from his insightful book “Prayer: The Cry For The Kingdom,” revised edition, 2005 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Yours in Christ,
Mardy von Harten, pastor