Every Tuesday morning from 8 - 9 am - I attend the prayer service at my local church. The sweet hour (of power) includes 20 minutes of worship (singing) - 20 minutes of quiet meditation and prayer - 20 minutes of corporate prayer. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. It’s powerful. It’s meaningful. It’s binding. It’s life changing.

This past Tuesday morning, we spent time reflecting on Pastor Adam’s Sunday sermon. Our pastor has been teaching through the Nicene Creed and “why we believe what we believe.” The passage from the Creed that he focused on this past Sunday was “God from God - Light from Light - True God from True God - Begotten, not created - of One Being with the Father - Through Him all things were made.” What a powerful truth these words express. It was C. S. Lewis who penned these words - “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

Adam challenged us with this statement. Christ is either the Creator or the created. What I believe determines how I live. My response? The Creator. So……… (my) Worship deepens which leads to Obedience - (my) Faith strengthens which leads to Confidence- (my) Hope endures which leads to Perseverance - (my) Love multiplies which overflows to others - and - (my) Witness bcomes bolder which leads to servanthood.

When I was a little girl - I loved when missionaries visited our church and told their stories of what life was like in faraway lands. This particular story has stuck with me all my life. The man who told this story was very old when I was very young so this probably happened in the 1920’s or 1930’s. He and his family - including his wife and three children - were living in a remote village - sharing the stories of Jesus with the village people. The chief was not happy with the missionary and one night - decided to make an end of the family. The husband and wife gathered their children close as they heard the young men of the village, along with the chief, gather outside their home. The family knew that they might be killed sometime during the night. The family huddled together in their home - praying and trusting - waiting and wondering. All night long the chief and his young warriors circled the perimeter of their yard but did not venture any closer.

When the day dawned, the family was still alive - their hut untouched - the village warriors gone. The family wondered at God’s grace. Later that day the chief arrived at their home - by himself - and asked to come in. Again the family experienced fear at what might happen. The chief explained that they had planned to kill the family - burn down their hut - but 13 armed guards were surrounding the hut - protecting the hut and family! The village warriors were afraid of the armed guards. The chief wanted to know where and how the family had secured such help. Soon after the village came to learn about God and accepted the family as one of their own.

Later - a letter arrived from a church in Canada - explaining that a group of people had “felt” the need to pray for this family on a particular night - which happened to be the night the village planned to kill them. Thirteen prayer warriors gathered in Canada to pray. The same number of armed guards who surrounded the hut that night.

That story made a huge impact on my life about the importance of praying - specifically - strategically - and with purpose.

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

C. S. Lewis - “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time - waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

That’s why I love Tuesday morning (vespers). Worship. Meditation. Prayer. There is something very special about gathering together.