Hi Praying Friends,

I was looking at my calendar this morning, mapping out my plan for my day (painting in the apartment we have rented for interns, meeting with an intern, working on reports, etc.) with the sinking feeling that I had forgotten something. And then I saw it - our weekly site prayer meeting was marked on the site calendar but not on my calendar, and I had scheduled right over it.

Because we believe SO deeply that effective ministry in all realms of the work God has called us to starts with strong community rhythms of spirituality (morning prayers 3 days a week, midday prayers as we remember, and a weekly prayer meeting on Wednesday are some of the ways we practice that the most) - I was a little shocked that I had forgotten about it.

It is just that I am used to measuring productivity by tasks accomplished. Prayer is different, though. Sure - we could mark the prayer meeting finished as the "task" accomplished but that seems to really reduce prayer to something almost profane - like saying a marriage is healthy because you spend 6-8 hours alone with your spouse every day (in bed, at night, when you are both asleep.). So - yes, prayer is a calendar event on our calendars - one that appears fairly often (and one we require for our participants) - but not so we can mark off a task, but to be sure that we are creating space for time with God that serves as a catalyst for the deeper life from which our other work can take place. The Alliance used to have a core value on their website that said, "Prayer is the primary work of God's people." I always loved the primacy of prayer in that statement.

So, I rearranged my schedule today - and am trusting God to work out the issues of timing that might become a challenge for some of the other tasks I hoped to accomplish!

What are your rhythms of prayer? I love learning from other people and ministries!

Some prayer requests for the week:

1. Pray that we can finish getting the intern apartment ready!
2. Elissa has had several weeks of really good health! Thank you so much for praying. Pray that this trend continues!
3. In the next 6 weeks we will have 3 interns and a resident arrive on site. Pray for us as we prepare for them. We will also have teams coming through during that time.
4. Josh will be heading north again for some schooling. Pray for him while he is travelling and learning.

Blessings!

mike