Family Meeting
As a teenager, I was fortunate enough to have a family that met with one another over dinner, over breakfast, over lunch, over an afternoon snack, over an evening bowl of ice cream, pretty much any time someone sat at the table. I remember sitting down to a meal and hours later still be seated engrossed in conversations. They were not always shallow and playful either. Those are important but we used to have depth and we weren't afraid to talk about the hard stuff. You know the stuff. The topics that make you vulnerable, that leave you naked and exposed. I lived for those times of just gathering around the table, talking, laughing, but most importantly being apart of the family.
Too often, groups of people reside under one roof without being a family. They share the same DNA, the same mannerisms, the same behaviors, but rarely do they share anything else. I remember being apart of that kind of family too.
Now the one I described in the first paragraph was the product of God in our lives. More specifically, it was our relationships with God that brought us together as a family. Our interaction with each other, our vulnerability, our respect, and our genuine enjoyment of just being together was a luxury. One I hope to pass onto my children.
Last night, at our weekly prayer meeting, God gave me a thought. Christians are family. Your church should be home. We have been reading in Acts at our weekly Bible study how the early church gathered together daily, eating and spending time together. We knew there was conversation happening because of all the quotations in those scriptures. Plus, have you ever known a group of women get together and not be chatty? Let's get real.
As I began to think on that mandate of communion, I began to parallel that with prayer and then God spoke to me. All you Christians, we need to be praying. Not just on our own, but together. It is vital that we come together and pray. Prayer night is family meeting night. Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, all who have been born again and call themselves Christians you are part of God's family. Prayer night, prayer meeting is when we as a family get to sit down together with our Father. It's when we get insight to the kingdom of heaven. It's when we get to make our petitions known. It's when we get to know one another and defend each other. It's when we learn and deepen our connections. Your relationship with God is not just about you. Praying together brings the family together. It strengthens our relationship as a church which in turn strengthens the church. When the church is strong being in one mind and one accord, things get done, victories happen, miracles happen, lives are changed, cities are changed. We become the revival that our nation is in desperate need of.
So anytime the churches doors are open for prayer, be there. Anytime a friend calls you up and asks you to pray with them, be honored. Prayer has been neglected too long and abused too much. It's been dictated by religion and set upon by restrictions that were never meant to be a part of salvation. The first step in clarifying the misconceptions is to reveal the truth. The truth is that every relationship suffers and fails without pure communication. It's time the church began to redefine Christianity and set the world right.
So I urge you, pray. Pray daily. Pray with your families. Pray with your friends. Pray with your coworkers and pastors. Pray. This nation needs revival but first the church needs a prayer uprising.
Too often, groups of people reside under one roof without being a family. They share the same DNA, the same mannerisms, the same behaviors, but rarely do they share anything else. I remember being apart of that kind of family too.
Now the one I described in the first paragraph was the product of God in our lives. More specifically, it was our relationships with God that brought us together as a family. Our interaction with each other, our vulnerability, our respect, and our genuine enjoyment of just being together was a luxury. One I hope to pass onto my children.
Last night, at our weekly prayer meeting, God gave me a thought. Christians are family. Your church should be home. We have been reading in Acts at our weekly Bible study how the early church gathered together daily, eating and spending time together. We knew there was conversation happening because of all the quotations in those scriptures. Plus, have you ever known a group of women get together and not be chatty? Let's get real.
As I began to think on that mandate of communion, I began to parallel that with prayer and then God spoke to me. All you Christians, we need to be praying. Not just on our own, but together. It is vital that we come together and pray. Prayer night is family meeting night. Brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, all who have been born again and call themselves Christians you are part of God's family. Prayer night, prayer meeting is when we as a family get to sit down together with our Father. It's when we get insight to the kingdom of heaven. It's when we get to make our petitions known. It's when we get to know one another and defend each other. It's when we learn and deepen our connections. Your relationship with God is not just about you. Praying together brings the family together. It strengthens our relationship as a church which in turn strengthens the church. When the church is strong being in one mind and one accord, things get done, victories happen, miracles happen, lives are changed, cities are changed. We become the revival that our nation is in desperate need of.
So anytime the churches doors are open for prayer, be there. Anytime a friend calls you up and asks you to pray with them, be honored. Prayer has been neglected too long and abused too much. It's been dictated by religion and set upon by restrictions that were never meant to be a part of salvation. The first step in clarifying the misconceptions is to reveal the truth. The truth is that every relationship suffers and fails without pure communication. It's time the church began to redefine Christianity and set the world right.
So I urge you, pray. Pray daily. Pray with your families. Pray with your friends. Pray with your coworkers and pastors. Pray. This nation needs revival but first the church needs a prayer uprising.
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