Introduction
We need more space for prayer in our lives.
We want to pray but too often find ourselves in the chaotic rhythms of daily life, restless and distracted and wanting to just get things done. We sense a greater urgency toward stillness, but quickly succumb to the next email or task. We want to listen to God’s voice but struggle to put our phone down for five minutes. God calls us to pray, but we are hurried. God calls us to wait, but we are impatient. God speaks, but we are preoccupied with myriad voices of affection and opinion, of fear and self-hatred. We are at the end of another day, finding that our best intentions to pray have fallen short. And, yet...God continues to invite us to come boldly to his throne--to ask, to seek, to confess, to hope, and even to expect.
This 50 Days of Prayer is an invitation into new rhythms steeped in grace and mercy. This is not a 50 day “challenge” but a way for you to rest and remember that God is working in and around you. This is a chance for us, as a church, to pray together toward Kingdom ends. What a beautiful thing to know that as you pray through a day, your brothers and sisters in your church are praying the same thing. And, together, we will expect God to surprise us, to reorder our desires, and to restore to us the expectation of his work in the world.
Each day will be structured the same way but feel free to add to it:
- Call to Prayer: A starting point. Put away any distractions and focus here.
- Silence: Spend at least 5 minutes being still and quiet. No music. No speaking. There is nothing to do here but stop. This is be hard, but God will surprise you in this discipline.
- Psalm Reading: Each day will have a different Psalm reading, which often connects to the reading in Acts.
- Acts Reading: The 50 Days will take you through the entire book of Acts.
- Prayer of Response: A prayer based on the day’s Acts reading. Also, there may be other things that strike you about a passage, so pray those as well!
- Prayers of Supplication: Each day will have different things and people for which to pray. Be specific. Write names down.
We are excited about this season of prayer. May God richly bless us as a community of unceasing prayer.
