Over the last few months, five or six, I believe, I have met with a small group of believers to pray and fast for a day each month. We try to get together near the first Saturday of each month. I have held the fast most of those months, but not every month. A couple of times, I had something happening in my life that distracted me and I did not follow through. That is reality and honest confession. Health concerns, taking meds with food, and so forth do happen and can interfere. Anyway…
The larger point to make is this group of friends banded together to purposely put an emphasis on prayer and asking our Almighty God to bless us and meet needs within our own lives and the lives of others in our collective spheres of influence. My friend and brother, Santhosh Abraham, generally hosts the group at his home and was one of the people who started this effort. Another friend and brother, Jared Okoth was the other person involved in starting our prayer group. Other strong believers are usually there with us. I won’t name all of them here, but Jacob Yohannan and Corey Cummings are often there too. Others drift in and out as they can. I can say that all of these brothers have enriched my life in different ways. Lest you think this is a men’s only gathering, let me quickly say that Christian wives and sisters are there too 🙂 and I also appreciate them, yes, I do.
Ok, this particular prayer gathering happened during a thunderstorm that caused the electricity to be out for a couple of hours, so we gathered by candle light, aided by a battery powered lantern. It reminded me a bit of what people in China often experience in their many underground churches. Our hosts were a “little” concerned about the situation, but I feel that it brought a new sense of intimacy to the evening and I recall telling my sister Pheba that the lights would come on before the end of our meeting.
As we started prayer time, Santhosh reviewed our prayers from the last time we met and we gave updates about answered prayers. Then, we all voiced additions to those needs and added new items of concern. These could be about personal or family needs, work-related items or the needs of our colleagues, or broader things – like the state of the world today. From the beginning of this group’s creation, I always voice prayers for our local CEF chapter and I believe God has heard our prayers. Without giving specifics, I can say that this prayer group’s petitions closely coincide with a season of growth and answered prayer needs within our local CEF ministry. It is a beautiful thing.
Ok, I’ll wrap up here by saying that I am grateful for the opportunity to meet with this group and the results that we have seen by our corporate prayer vigil. Oh, and you might be interested in knowing that soon after we finished praying and started preparing to have a meal together to break the fast… the power came back on 🙂
God is good and faithful in little things as He is with big things… amen.
