When Citylight was in it’s early days, we asked the Lord to do far more than we could ever imagine. We also prayed to the Lord to build His Church. In Matthew 16:18 it says that I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. We saw this then and continue to see God doing His work through prayer as a Church. Can you imagine what He wants to do in our personal lives?! If we constantly go to Him in prayer for all the people in our lives, kids, grandkids, for people in the Church and for our Pastors, imagine what that could that look like? Could it be God wants to do something that surprises us when and if we continually ask Him? He says that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it. We need to be faithful to keep asking and letting Him to surprise us with what He wants to do. He reminds us of that all the time. Ask and keep asking God, pray and continually go to prayer.
We know prayer is God’s will. Everything is all connected to prayer. When we are praying our eyes are open, looking to God and seeing and sensing His Spirit working in different ways. We know that the Holy Spirit prays with words when we can’t. In the hard seasons, when it’s difficult to pray, that’s when we need to pray the most. That’s when you fall on your knees and tell the Lord that you don’t know what to do. The neat thing about that is He can bring a thought to you revealing what you do need to do. Surrender to Him. He will give you the word or thought to pray. Ask Him ‘Here I am Lord, I know I am Your child’ and, ‘Lord would you help me to say it?’ When you don’t know what to pray, just surrender and tell the Lord that you are here. Ask Him for help. That’s an attitude to take because we don’t have the answers but He does. Sometimes it’s dropping at His feet surrendering and He will come in and he will actually guide our praying. Even the bible says we don’t know how to pray how we ought to, but the Spirit can help us. Have confidence and think God can answer that prayer. He desires to help us to be beyond ourselves and to flow through us to other people.
With planting a church, pray that God will you draw people to that, and to surprise us with people who want to help and be a part of it. We saw what has happened in our Citylight Family, and He will continue to draw people. Pray to God that He uses you, our gifts, and uses other people. May others sense your leading to do what God wants them to do. He’s answered it before. Go to Him and ask again.
by Jack Arant
Jack and his wife Linda hosted a handful of people in their living room ten years ago with the intention to gather together to pray and ask God to build His church. Jack continues to serve each Citylight church. Many on staff call him ‘Papa Jack.’