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As an April fools, I’m sending my March newsletter on April 1! March just got away from me.
I hope you had a glorious time of celebrating the Easter miracle, often depicted by skeptics as a hoax or trick. Believers know the Truth! Easter commemorates the resurrection from the grave of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You probably sang the song that, “He’s Alive, He's alive, He's alive and I'm forgiven Heaven's gates are open wide.”
Calvin Miller said, “The Resurrection is that central miracle around which the Christian faith is gathered.”
And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 1 Cor. 15:14 NLT
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Cor. 5:21 NLT
How do we know Jesus is alive? Because He lives in every believer’s heart. My mother-in-law’s favorite song was “In the Garden,” where “He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” We know she’s walking and talking joyfully with her Savior every day now in Heaven.
Maybe you even sang on Easter the song I dearly love, “Up from the grave He arose!” Such a powerful song, especially as the congregation in unison gets louder and louder every time the chorus is sung between stanzas, “Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, With His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”
Solos have their place, but when we unite with others in one powerful melodious voice, we shake the heavens. There’s power in singing corporately together.
It’s the same with corporate prayer, which is praying together with other people. There’s a time to pray alone in our prayer closets, but when we unite with other believers in prayer, the Lord assures us He is in our midst. “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” (Matt. 18:20 NLT) Acts 2:42 also says the early church prayed together: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
I love that our church has a time when the church family can lift up prayer requests and praises to the congregation and then an elder leads us in prayer every Sunday morning. A caring and compassionate church family corporately uniting to pray for each other. Holy. Powerful.
If you’re in a small group, life group, or Bible study group, there's probably a time of prayer requests and praises. In our Couples Bible Study Group, we open with prayer requests and praises and after everyone has shared, we have a time of corporate prayer where members who feel led pray for each other. Even those who might not typically feel comfortable praying aloud will usually pray. We're family. A safe place for worshipful bonding and encouragement with our spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Lord impressed upon me in the early days of 2024 that I would become more involved in prayer. I didn’t know what He meant since I have a time of prayer every morning and hubby and I pray together. But I sensed God had something different and deeper planned. It wasn’t long before He revealed His prayer plans for me.
For years, I’ve received emails from My Faith Votes | Equip Christians in Your Community to Vote as I’d found them a valuable resource during elections. Then on February 1, 2024, I saw an email from Laurel Brooks, the MyFaithVotes National Director of Grassroots Action with the subject line “What I saw at the March for Life.” That sparked my interest. As I read about her participation in the march, there was a box at the bottom of the email, “Learn more about becoming an Action Partner.”
I clicked on that box and on Feb. 2, I received a welcome email from Laurel. Another box at the bottom read, “Pray and Contact Your Elected Officials.” I clicked on it and received a follow up email from Laurel on Feb. 4 with the subject line, “Monday’s Weekly Prayer Call.” The picture on that email is the opening graphic of this newsletter. There was a link to access a Prayer Call & Prayer Points with an explanation, “Here is what we do:”
- We come together in a zoom room.
- We welcome everyone and open in prayer.
- Sometimes we have guests speak.
- We break out into prayer closets of about 8 folks each so everyone has a chance to pray aloud if they choose. However, there is absolutely zero pressure to pray aloud. You are free to simply stand with like-minded believers in prayer.
- For the last 5 minutes, we come back together to say a closing prayer. Then we have an optional coffee (half) hour to visit together.
- If you are using a smart phone, you can download the zoom app and join us with video or you can simply call in.
- We do a morning and evening call: 11 AM ET / 10 AM CT / 9 AM MT / 8 AM PT or 9 PM ET / 8 PM CT / 7 PM MT / 6 PM PT
Laurel closed with, “It is such a powerful time of intercession. There is freedom to be you, before the Lord, with your family in Christ.”
That sounded awesome! I could pray with fellow believers from all over the United States from the comfort of my home and computer. Even though Mondays are crazy busy because of my Monday Morning Blog or Newsletter, I knew I could make this work.
Could it be this was what the Lord had prepared me for at the beginning of the year? Was this how He wanted to deepen my prayer life? I’ve learned when God gives me a call, I just need to pray and wait for Him to reveal the details. Then I must be willing to say, “Lord, here I am send me. Use me.” He’s been faithful to do exactly that!
I woke up the first Monday so excited to get dressed, make my coffee, and join the zoom prayer group. Faces of prayer partners popped up on the computer screen representing states throughout the nation. I noticed out of about 60 people, I was the only person from Idaho that morning.
After a short opening, they broke us into chat rooms with eight others so it was intimate. We each had time to pray if we chose. We prayed for about 55 minutes then came back to the main room for closing comments and prayer. I stayed on for the chat time afterwards and learned there was a similar prayer group on Tuesday mornings in Idaho!! So I asked for that connection and the next week, I prayed on Monday with national prayer partners, and Tuesday with a small group in Idaho.
My first morning with the Idaho prayer group, I mentioned I was an author and they said the interim state MyFaithVotes Coordinator was editing the monthly update newsletters for five states and he could really use help with Idaho’s newsletter. I told them I would pray about helping. It didn’t take long to realize this was God calling me to use my writing gifts to become the new Idaho Update Newsletter Editor! With the help of our state researcher, Ann, I just completed our first Idaho April Update edition.
The four core pillars of My Faith Votes are religious freedom, sanctity of life, strengthening and protection of the family, and care for the needy. I hope I’ve sparked your interest and attention to find out more about how you can join My Faith Votes prayer calls nationally via zoom or on your phone and find out if there’s an active prayer group in your state. Go to MyFaithVotes here. If you’re in Idaho, contact me and I’ll get you connected with our state prayer coordinator.
Maybe you would rather participate in a local prayer group that meets in person to pray with fellow believers about our nation, state, communities, families, and churches. If your church doesn’t already have prayer groups, maybe you could start one. If they do have one, then pray about joining. You’ll be blessed that you did.
Many email me and ask where they can find a Praying for Your Prodigal Support Group and I always say if there’s not one in a church near you, maybe God’s calling you to start one. In Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents [the featured book this month] there are discussion questions at the end of every chapter. This book is applicable to sons and grandchildren too. It’s always comforting to know other people are experiencing your same struggles and heartaches. The Lord tells us that, “Two are better than one, for they can help each other succeed.” (Ecc. 4:9 NLT)
Praying to God is a vital and essential part of being a Christian. We’re not trying to bend God’s will to our will, but instead cooperate and submit to His will. Consistent and honest communication is necessary for any relationship to grow and prosper, and that includes our relationship with our Lord and Savior. Prayer is a means of communicating with the Lord and listening to His response, just as I’ve seen happen so often in my own life. If you’re having trouble with your prayer life, maybe you’re experiencing The 7 Sneaky Ways Satan Stops You From Praying.”
It’s often said a family that prays together stays together, but I think we can also apply that to a nation that prays together stays together. United. We Pray. United. We Stand.
About His Work with You,
Janet
New Blog Posts:
Janet's Crosswalk Articles:
Janet's "Nutrition Nook" Column in Christian Living Magazine:
PS: If you want to watch “Letter to the American Church” with MyFaithVotes on April 12 via zoom and have an opportunity to hear from the two women producers of this excellent movie, go to www.myfaithvotes.org/LTAC. It’s free, no charge. To show this amazing movie at your church or for your pastor to preview it, go to http://www.lettertotheamericanchurch.com.
PSS: Are you looking for a Bible study for your group to do in the spring or summer? Check out the Face-to-Face Bible study series, or one of my books like Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God our Culture Has Forgotten, or Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As A Woman of Faith are available at Amazon, BarnesandNoble, and signed and personalized by Janet from our website shop. Both books are written for our current times. Perfect for book clubs and Bible Study groups.
PSSS: Now is the time to order your Mentor and Mentee Handbooks for spring & summer Mentoring Ministry Coffees and matching.
PSSSS: If you're ready to start a Mentoring Ministry ALL Woman to Woman Mentoring Resources are available only at our website shop. Be sure to check out our Woman To Woman Mentoring Ministry Leader's Package. There are only a few remaining and then they will be discontinued, so get yours now!
PSSSSS: Please share with us a story from your mentoring ministry to encourage other churches.
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