It was a privilege to have Pastor Anita share with us on Sunday. For as long as I’ve known Pastor Anita, she has always stood out to me as an intercessor and prayer warrior. I think her message highlighted that well. Pastor Anita has prayed all over Asia, including in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and beyond. She’s prayed in a Pagoda in China, in Chinatown in Singapore, and at a prayer mountain in Korea. And all that since 2021!
While we may not all have the opportunity to pray in places like these, I think the importance of prayer is common to us all. I’m reminded of the diamond vision that God gave Pastor Alvin years ago as God was shaping us as a church family (you can see it here: www.life-spring.org/who-we-are/). The part of the vision that has always stood out to me is the fire that burns under the diamond vision, like an engine that powers the vision. Intercession and prayer fuels our church, much like the heart fuels the body.
This reminds me of wise words that were shared with our youth group about twenty years ago (a time when I could still be considered a youth!). Adrian had worked with our group for 5-6 years by then, pouring into us and walking with us closely. God then called him to Vancouver, BC. Before Adrian left, he told us, “if you lose everything else in the youth group, make sure that you don’t lose prayer and intercession.”
After Adrian left for BC, our youth group did run into rough times, and our intercession meetings got lost in the scramble. But as we tried to keep the youth group afloat, Adrian’s words rang true for me. One of the first things we did when we wanted to revive our youth group was to stabilize our prayer. We met weekly for prayer for over a year, and slowly we saw life come back into the youth group. Today, some of our leaders in the church are a product of those prayer and intercession meetings so many years ago.
I think the same principle that applied to our youth group could also apply to our lives. We can become busy with so many things, even in the church. There is kids ministry, worship, life group, prophetic ministry, missions, refreshments, and so much more to be involved in. But the one thing we can never afford to lose is intercession and prayer.
Prayer is the heartbeat of the church, and I truly believe it is the heartbeat of our personal spiritual lives as well. May prayer always be a top priority for us, as we are buoyed by its power, especially during the most unstable times in our lives.