Okay, now it’s safe to think about our own prayer life.  In Isaiah 62:6-7 Jesus says he has posted watchmen to pray ceaselessly.  We are encourage to “give ourselves no rest” and “give him [the LORD] no rest” until the Church is the praise of the earth.

(Note, see Hebrews 12:22 on why followers of Jesus are the true Jerusalem.)

For a good illustration, taken from my most recent sermon:

One group of Christians took this seriously, and made a huge impact for the growth of Christianity.  In the 1720s, in Germany, Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf had established a community of refugees on his estate, a real mix of Christians.  He called this community Herrnhut, meaning ‘The Lord’s watch’ after this chapter.  There were a lot of tensions between the differing Christian groups, and Zinzendorf’s response was the set up a round-the-clock prayer watch, with the Moravian Christians praying in one hour shifts.

I’ve been in prayer meeting that were several hours long, on this principle.  But this prayer watch lasted over 100 years!

The Holy Spirit came with power upon these Christians, resulting in missionary teams being sent out across the world.  John Wesley was converted through a Moravian missionary.  Some felt called to be missionaries to Caribbean slaves – and the only way to reach the slaves was for the missionaries to sell themselves into slavery.   William Carey, known as the father of the missionary movement, was in fact inspired by the Moravians.

Here were Christians, watchmen on the walls, who gave themselves no rest, and gave God no rest, and the church exploded with life bringing thousands into the Kingdom of God.

(You’ll find this information all over the web e.g. here and here.)

I sometimes make use of the book “Valley of Vision” – a fantastic collection of Puritan prayers. They are like a starter motor that gets me praying. From p.270 ‘The Prayer of Love’ comes this line:

“Grace cataracts from heaven and flows for ever, and mercy never wearies of bestowing benefits.”

Which got me thinking of the imagery.  Grace like a river…

• washes away sin from my life
• erodes my rock-hard stubborness
• brings life to the desert
• glistens in the light of the Son
• brings oxygen to the stagnant waters of my soul.

Any other ideas?

We’d value your prayers on Friday and for recovery afterwards.

UPDATE:

Thanks for the prayers. She waited happily and patiently until 11.45am to go down to
theatre, and was a real star as she was given the anaesthetic.  Two and a half hours later we collected her from recovery room.  She was a little sad to begin with but after a 3 hour sleep she woke up full of smiles and a very big appetite!

We came home last night.  Since then she’s been happy and not at all bothered about the bandage.  The surgeon seemed pleased with the op and we go back on 9th September to have this bandage removed and see how the hand is progressing.