And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. (James 5:15)
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
 

The verse quoted from James speaks of prayer offered in faith. How can I know if my prayer is offered in faith … or not? A friend suggested this practical test:  If I pray about something that worries me and then pick up my worrying where I left off, then I did not pray in faith. If I pray for my husband’s safety as he leaves on a business trip and then lie awake worrying that his plane might crash, I did not pray in faith. If I begin my work on this blog with prayer, asking the Lord to work through me, but second-guess myself after I’ve hit the “Schedule to Send” button, then I did not pray in faith.
 
The verses from Philippians clearly teach that worry followed by prayer followed by more worry is not an inevitable pattern. If I pray in faith, my prayer time is followed by peace instead of worry.
 
If you find yourself failing the test my friend proposed, the solution is not to beat yourself up or to grit your teeth and try to manufacture more faith. The solution is to spend more of your prayer time remembering and acknowledging the One to whom you pray, the One who knows all and who holds all power. Specifically ask Him, too, to guard your heart and mind from doubt and worry.
 
Here are some suggested topics for prayer this week:
 
1.  Join Amber Gallegos in praising and thanking the Lord for a passing score on her state board exam to be a CNA (certified nursing assistant). She continues to thank Him for the way her Calvary family has supported her in so many ways these past several months. Praise Him for the truth that we who belong to Christ function as a body: The body is not made up of one part but of many … If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.        
(1 Corinthians 12:14,26)
 
2.  Fall FunFest, our family-friendly Halloween alternative, is an outreach to our neighborhood, a way to introduce ourselves as a church to our neighbors. Pray that willing servants will step forward this week to fill the remaining work shifts for the evening of October 29. Ask the Lord to be making His sovereign arrangements for unchurched families to attend.
 
3.  Did you read the item in the October e-comm about the need for Sunday morning workers in the nursery, Sunday School, and Discovery Kids (between services)? Pray that the Lord will stir the hearts of people with the right gifts to volunteer. Who knows? Maybe it’s you!
 
4.  I heard a compelling interview with pro-life bioethicist Scott Klusendorf on the Focus on the Family broadcast last week. It was a reminder to pray for the end of abortion in our nation. Pray that somehow, someway, every citizen will come face-to-face with this question:  What, exactly, is killed in an abortion? Is it a mass of living but nonhuman tissue that’s OK to kill, or is it a human baby who deserves protection?
 
5.  Your Word, Lord, is our bread. We need it to sustain and nourish our souls. Increase our hunger for Your Word and defeat the temptations and excuses that keep us away from Your table.  (from prayer time in the ESL Bible study last week)
 
6.  Lift up the children and staff of the Hacienda Victoria orphanage in Rosarito, Mexico. Ask the Lord to use Calvary to meet some of their needs. Ask Him to be working in the life of each child, sowing hope.
 
7.  You say grace before meals. All right.
     But I say grace before the play and the opera,
     And grace before the concert and pantomime,
     And grace before I open a book,
     And grace before sketching, painting,
     Swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing;
     And grace before I dip the pen in the ink. (English writer G. K. Chesterton)
 

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert
Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea