Beginning on Sunday, January 2, North River will participate with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in 40 Days of Prayer focused on Reawakening.  You may register to participate at: https://cmalliance.org/40days/.  We will also begin a sermon series When You Pray, that, while not directly related to the focus of the 40 Days of Prayer, will coordinate with it nicely. 

There really isn’t any better way to begin 2022 than with an extended focus on prayer.  Jesus said, I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing, (John 15:5 ESV).  Yet, recent surveys indicate that the average Christian spends only 3 minutes per day in prayer.  Pastors do twice as well – 6 minutes.  If we come anywhere close to the average, our actions say that we believe Jesus was wrong.  We believe we can do everything without Him. 

Shaming us, however, will do little to change the situation.  We need a reawakening.  We need to recapture the wonder of the relationship we have with our Awesome God.  We need to see what an incredible gift prayer is and what a privilege it is to be able to communicate directly with the God Who loves us and wants to talk with us.  We need a reawakening to the glory of God. 

In Exodus 33, Moses asked God for three things:

1. If I have found favor in Your sight, please show me now Your ways, that I may know You in order to find favor in Your sight, Ex 33:13 ESV.
2. If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here, Ex 33:15 ESV
3. Please show me Your glory, Ex 33:18 ESV

Isn’t that amazing.  This is Moses speaking – the man who had already been used by God to accomplish amazing things.  This was Moses – the man who regularly talked with God, in fact, he just came down off the mountain from 40 days and nights in God’s presence.  This is Moses – the man who knew God better than anyone else on the planet.  Yet, he wanted to know God better and see His glory more fully. 

Church, if Moses needed that, we need it.  We need to be reawakened to God’s glory.  We need to know His ways better than we do now.  We need to experience His presence more fully.  We need these things so we may know Him better and please Him more.  Would you join me in praying Moses’ prayer for yourself and for the church as a whole?