Wesley Word – September 28, 2022

Carolyn Lemaster   -   September 28, 2022

To go along with service on: Sunday, October 2nd

Experiencing Grace

Exploring Truth

Luke 11:1-13

Promises: Prayer

This week we are beginning a new series based on our membership vows called Promises. When we become members of a local church in the United Methodist Church we promise that we will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. During this series, we are going to learn how we live those out and, as we wrap up on All Saints’ Sunday, (November 6) how those promises have been passed on to us from those who have gone before us.

Prayer is like exercise. We all know that we should do it, but we find it hard to find the time. And, if we are honest, many of us would say that we do not know how to pray. We try to pray, and we do not know what to say or our mind wanders all over the place and we end up saying some vague generic thing like, “Dear God, thank you for the sunshine and bless everybody, in Jesus’ name. Amen.” In fact, even the first disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus teaches them what has come to be known as the Lord’s Prayer, which is both a prayer in itself and a model of prayer. Here is a way to think about organizing our prayers.

ACTS Model

  • A is for Adoration, saying to God, “I love you.” This is praising God.
  • C is for Confession, confessing your sins and saying to God, “I’m sorry.”
  • T is for Thanksgiving, saying “Thank you” to God for all that he has done for us.
  • S is for Supplication, which is just a fancy word to ask, or even beg, for something. If we listen carefully, we can hear the word supply in it. If we listen even more carefully, we can hear the word, please. This is saying to God, “Please give us the things that we need.”

As we think about what to pray for, we can think about concentric circles with ourselves at the center and we can either begin or end with praying for ourselves. If we start from the outside, we begin by praying for the church. We pray for our local church, our ministry and mission, and our people. We pray for all believers throughout the world and especially for the persecuted church. We pray for our denomination, our conference, our district, and our leaders. Next, we pray for our community, our nation, and our world, particularly for those who are sick or in need. Then, we pray for our family and those closest to us. Finally, we pray for ourselves. You may have noticed that this is the basic pattern I use for my pastoral prayer on Sunday mornings.

 

Wesley Prayer Ministry

We have an email prayer chain. If you would like to receive the prayer emails, email JoAnne Ruby at mikenjoanne@machlink.com
We also have a smaller group that meets for prayer every week on Tuesdays at 9am via Zoom. If you would like to join us here is the Zoom link…
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4237181484
Join Zoom By Phone – Dial: 312-626-6799 Enter Meeting ID: 423-718-1484 Press # twice.

Question for Reflection/Discussion:

  1. What is the greatest obstacle to prayer in my life?
  2. How have I seen God answer prayers?

New Testament in a Year: https://wesleyonline.org/biblereading/

  • September 28    Ephesians 6:1 -24
  • September 29    Philippians 1:1-26
  • September 30    Philippians 1:27-2:18
  • October 1        Philippians 2:19-3:3
  • October 2        Philippians 3:4-21
  • October 3        Philippians 4:1-23
  • October 4        Colossians 1:1-17
  • October 5        Colossians 1:18-2:7

 

Expressing Love: Family/Mission Activity

News reporters often use the five “W’s” to help them tell their stories. They are who, what, when, where, and why. There are also five “W’s” about prayer we need to remember.

  • Who should pray? Anyone! (Not just pastors, or just adults, kids should pray too.)
  • What should we pray about? Anything! (There is nothing too big or too small for God to care about.)
  • When should we pray? Anytime! (We don’t have to wait until Sunday, or morning, or bedtime. We can pray anytime, all the time.)
  • Where should we pray? Anywhere! (We don’t have to be at church, we can pray anywhere.)
  • Why should we pray? Because God answers prayer! (God may not always say yes to everything we ask, but he always answers our prayers and gives us what is good.)

 

Announcements

  • WOW (Wesley on Wednesdays) 6:00 pm. Refreshments, devotions, and adult classes and programming for youth and children.
  • Jackson Concert Series presents Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 pm.
  • Muscatine CROP Hunger Walk is Sunday, October 2. Donations can be given to walkers Deb Hughes, Judy Brotherton, Sunday Morning Live, and the Muscatine Youth Choir. Make checks payable to “CROP”, or you can give online at www.crophungerwalk.org/muscatineia.  Look for Wesley United Methodist.