Winning Ways: Hillcrest at Prayer

As a pastor, I’m usually the one promising prayer. Now I’m the recipient of the promise of prayers from others. Since we announced the news of Diane’s cancer, we’re grateful for so many notes letting us know you’re praying for us.

Hillcrest is a congregation that knows the importance of prayer, and I hope you will take advantage of all the ways we pray for each other. Let me mention three:

First, the most important place to pray for each other is in our small-group settings. We don’t tend to lift up specific, intimate items by name in our Sunday morning services. Instead, we lift people up by name in our Common Ground groups and Sunday School classes. If you haven’t plugged in to a small group yet, I encourage you to spend an extra hour after this Sunday’s worship service and start making some new friends in one of our groups. You’ll hear them praying for each other by name, and they’ll be glad to include your concerns in their prayers as well.

Second, we send out prayer alerts via email. If you want to receive these alerts, contact my assistant, Jami Dismukes, at the church office. These email blasts go out every day, sometimes several times a day, to keep our members informed about prayer needs. You can submit items for the prayer alerts by contacting Jami or completing a Connection Card on Sundays.

Third, prayer is an important part of what we do in our midweek service. We encourage you to make this a part of your routine, 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

Paul’s command to the early church was, “Be constant in prayer” and “Pray without ceasing” (Romans 12:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). You can help us make sure Hillcrest remains that kind of church.

“Think of the prayer warriors in our midst,” wrote Tony Snow in the midst of his fight with cancer. “They change things, and those of us who have been on the receiving end of their petitions and intercessions know it. It is hard to describe, but there are times when suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and you feel a surge of the Spirit. Somehow you just know: Others have chosen, when talking to the Author of all creation, to lift us up—to speak of us!”

Thanks to you, I know what he’s talking about.

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