Prayer & Fasting

We believe that Jesus wants his church to be marked by prayer. In fact, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that this was to be distinctive of the place where God was worshiped. And, Jesus quoted Isaiah when he famously cleared the temple of the merchants and money changers in Mark 11:17: “And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers’”(ESV). But we know that it really isn’t about a place. God isn’t so interested in having a place where people can pray as he is interested in his people praying. From the beginning, this was the distinguishing mark of the people of God. Genesis 4:26 says, “At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Sin and death rocked their world. Brokenness was becoming strangely familiar to the ones who had once enjoyed the perfection of the Garden. Those who had been intended for constant communion now experienced distance. But God was not far away. He was present and ready to respond. So they called on the name of the Lord. God is still listening, waiting, even calling us to pray. His desires for his people have not changed. As a church, we want to give ourselves to cultivating the practice of prayer. Throughout the year, we will be setting aside days to fast and pray for specific things as a church. There will be other opportunities to learn about prayer and pray with others in Missional Community Groups or our prayer team that meets on Sunday mornings. We invite you to join us on this journey so that once again we are known as people who call on the name of the Lord.