An August of Prayer

by David Roller

 

August is often thought of as a slow month here in Spring Arbor. Stuck between the excitement of early summer and the refreshment of fall, lie these “dog days of summer.” 

 

What about changing that? What if this August were different? Instead of a buffer month, what if this August were a time for energizing a new connection between us, God, and each other? And if that sounds too much like work, what if this August were a time for simply letting God’s goodness and care wash over us, healing us and bringing us to more sharply resemble Him? 

 

We’re inviting The Arbor community of faith to journey together for the 31 days of August on a journey of prayer. And if that sounds too much like work, we’re inviting you to 31 days of becoming a better person by doing less, slowing down and entering into conversation...with God. And if that sounds too much like work...you might need more coffee!

 

As you know, prayer is really conversation. God talks, we listen, we talk, God listens. It’s like any conversation except loaded with much more potential because, after all, we’re talking with God, right? 

 

Here’s how we’re proposing to do this, we’ll all read the same chapter of the bible every day, and we’ll all have the same prayer orientation every day. That’s it. It’s that simple. Like this: August 1 we’ll all read Luke 1. August 2, we’ll all read Luke 2 and so on. But somewhere around  August 24th we’ll run out of the Gospel of Luke, so we’ll end the month with the first seven chapter of Luke, part 2, also known as the Acts of the Apostles, finishing up on August 31st with Stephen’s glorious homegoing in Acts 7! 

 

If you’d rather watch videos than read, the chapters of Luke are available at: www.heresjesus.org/watch 

 

Every day will include a prayer request for an international ministry that’s connected to The Arbor. These requests come via Heartbeat-August Prayer Guide, courtesy of Free Methodist World Missions.

 

You’ll get the most out of these days if you keep a notebook handy each day for recording significant things you’d like to remember.

 

A little encouragement from Pastor Kaye: 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Ephesians 4:4-6

For many, summer is our favorite season, with opportunities to travel and enjoy the beautiful outdoors and our people. Yet sometimes it seems easy to become a little untethered from God and the church as our personal and corporate rhythms change.  We are seizing an opportunity to join together in the Spirit and truth to seek the Lord and His power as we enter into the next season - which happens to be the season of harvest!  I am praying you and The Arbor will be blessed by this shared prayer focus to become deeply rooted together in Jesus and bring abundant life to those around us.

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Week 1 (August 1-7)

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Week 2 (August 8-14)

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Week 3 (August 15-21)

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Week 4 (August 22-28)

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Week 5 (August 29-31)

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