Consider the catalyst for the Psalmist's increasing love for God:

"I love the LORD, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live" (Ps. 116:1-2).

Seeking God's Face Together

As a church family, we want to learn to continually live out what it means to, "...devote ourselves...to prayer" (Acts 2:42). Like our Lord, we want to learn to exploit the privilege of living before God's face in Spirit-led dependence upon God in prayer (Heb. 5:7; 4:14-16).

In that light, the elders are encouraging you to make every effort to actively participate in the next ten church prayer gatherings.

Let us take advantage of the opportunity to say as a church, "We love the LORD, for He heard our voice...therefore we will call on Him as long as we live!"

Next 10 Week's Guiding Texts: Portraits of Christ in Isaiah

The portraits of Christ in Isaiah will guide our next ten prayer meetings.

As Advent season draws near, we want to ask "the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus, to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus" (Eph. 1:17). We want to plead for Christ to "reveal Himself to us" (John 14:21). We want to learn to say together, "show us Your glory" (Exodus 33:18).

Might God be pleased to pull back the veil--allowing us to see His face--if we "seek Him while He may be found" together (Isaiah 55:6)? Let's find out!

The verses in Isaiah that will guide each week's prayer meeting may be found on the Fall Church Card (the prayer texts are in parenthesis). We encourage you to be praying through these verses throughout the week.

This week's prayer meeting will draw upon the Messianic texts in Isaiah 4:2; 7:10-15; 9:1-7.

Prayer & the Study of God's Word

These weeks of praying together will also serve as a powerful tool in the hand of our God to ready our souls for the upcoming Teleios study through Isaiah (Spring '12).

Looking forward to meeting with you in God's Throne Room this Sunday. What a privilege!

With love, for the elders,

~ jt