by Jill Bell, Elder for Prayer Ministries

Just a few months ago, Bethany held a Sunday evening Service of Prayer and Healing, which took the place of the regular 5pm service. The service was a powerful time of witnessing the Lord’s work in people’s lives, seen through inspiring testimonies and joyful worship together. Over 100 people gathered together for this service, and many stayed afterwards for individual prayer with elders, deacons, and prayer team members.

During my controlling, organizational planning for this service (that good old Presbyterian “worship of order!”), God reminded me that the “boxes” I was subtly trying to put Him in were awfully small and cramped, and that indeed there was no box suitable to put the Living God inside of! My efforts to quantify God and prescribe the way He would work not only limited my ability to know Him but also limited my availability to be used by Him. God is eminently knowable, as we see in Scripture, but He is not formulaic, as we also see in the variety of ways Jesus healed people!

As Elder for Prayer Ministries at Bethany, I have the joy (and it really is a joy!) to pray with and on behalf of many people from our congregation. And many of us have experienced the encouragement and support that comes when a fellow believer comes alongside us to pray. We have seen the work of God in our lives as a result of prayer.

Beginning in March, there will be another opportunity here at Bethany to experience God’s presence in prayer. On the first and third Sundays of each month, as a part of the Sunday evening 5 pm service, members of Bethany’s prayer team will be available in the back of the sanctuary to meet with those who would like to have someone pray with them. This prayer time will follow the serving of communion, and will not change the normal order of worship for the service, but will supplement it.

Members of Bethany's prayer team are also available to pray outside of Sunday evenings.schedule an alternate prayer time, please contact the Elder for Prayer Ministries, Jill Bell (755-5558).

I encourage you to pay attention to where God is speaking to you, and if He’s calling you to seek out other believers to pray on your behalf, come and receive that gift from His hands. Open up your boxes just a little bit, and allow God to give you another, perhaps more comprehensive picture of Himself and His desires for you!