When neighbours band together to pray, great things can happen in their neighbourhoods.
Alvin VanderGriend, author of Shine His Light, that praying neighbours in one Grand Rapids, Michigan neighbourhood saw people get off drugs, two unemployed women find jobs, a father giving up drinking, a Bible study launched, a father healed after a heart attack, a woman miraculously healed after an illness, someone delivered from an evil spirit, and five people coming to know Christ. All in one year!
In a March 23, 2014 blog post, I referred to the "pray, care, share" approach where Vander Griend recommends that neighbours get together in "Houses of Prayer" and pray for their neighbours, care for them in acts of kindness, and share the gospel.
In this post, I'd like to touch on the reasons he offers for the power of praying neighbours. Here are some:
Alvin VanderGriend, author of Shine His Light, that praying neighbours in one Grand Rapids, Michigan neighbourhood saw people get off drugs, two unemployed women find jobs, a father giving up drinking, a Bible study launched, a father healed after a heart attack, a woman miraculously healed after an illness, someone delivered from an evil spirit, and five people coming to know Christ. All in one year!
In a March 23, 2014 blog post, I referred to the "pray, care, share" approach where Vander Griend recommends that neighbours get together in "Houses of Prayer" and pray for their neighbours, care for them in acts of kindness, and share the gospel.
In this post, I'd like to touch on the reasons he offers for the power of praying neighbours. Here are some:
- Prayer releases God's grace and power into a neighbourhood. Vander Griend says this is like God having an "infinite reservoir of blessings" and a pipeline connects each house in the neighbourhood with this reservoir. There's a faucet on that pipeline to our neighbours and that faucet is opened by prayer.
- God gets people's attention when he answers prayer. When amazing things happen in answer to prayer, people sit up and take notice.
- Houses of Prayer establish a long-term presence in a community. People who live in a neighbourhood for a long time become aware of the needs of others in their area. They are there to pray, care and share as people go through difficult times.
- Houses of Prayer target whole households. They pray for whole families, not just individuals. They are concerned about family relationships.
- Houses of Prayer involve whole families. Everyone in our families - children as well as adults - can be involved in this prayer movement. Children can be turned on to the power of prayer as they join their parents in praying for others.
- Members of Houses of Prayer demonstrate God's love in practical ways as they relate to their neighbours.
- Houses of Prayer effectively harness the power of the church's lay people. As Vander Griend points out, there are many more lay people than full-time staff in churches.
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