We Are Seeking Your Prayer Stories

Quiet praying filled the sanctuary of Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Mich., on the opening night of the West Michigan Regional Prayer Summit.

As I walked through the sanctuary, I was touched by the prayers. Here and there I heard the requests — prayer for an aunt who has cancer, for a son who is hurting,  for a man facing the loss of a job.

People were petitioning God, confident God heard and would respond. They were honoring and glorifying God, some on their knees, some holding one another, some with heads bent, eyes closed and hands folded.

Prayer was clearly important to the people in that church on that night — as well as to people across the Christian Reformed Church who pray in their homes, in their churches and in settings such as one of the 12 regional prayer summits that have taken place since the CRC held its first denominational prayer summit in 2011.

“When you look at this, at what has happened since the first prayer summit, you see a movement of prayer sweeping our denomination,” says Mary Sterenberg, one of the coordinators of the summit in Holland.

“We see that the Spirit is alive, touching people through prayer in so many amazing ways.”

In preparation for the upcoming denominational prayer summit, set for April 13-15, 2015 at All Nations CRC in the Los Angeles area, we at CRC News would like to highlight stories of how people’s lives have been touched by prayer.

“Prayer is taking on a renewed meaning in our church,” says Rev. Moses Chung, director of Christian Reformed Home Missions.

“It is so important when we can all come together in prayer, to come before our God and to seek his face and purpose for our lives,” said Chung. “But I think it is just beginning.”

We are looking for people in all parts of the CRC to share how God is moving and touching their lives.

Here is a list of possible topics:

• Share your personal prayer testimony, however much you are comfortable sharing.
• How has prayer touched your family, your friends, your church?
• What are some of your prayer practices? Do you pray silently and alone?  in a group? pray with help of worship materials? or in some other fashion? Or all of the above?
• How does prayer help you to glimpse God at work in the world?
• Why is prayer important to you and to the life of the church?

Please send your stories to Chris Meehan, CRC news and media relations manager, at [email protected] by Dec. 10, 2014. Put “Prayer Project 2014” in the subject line.

Stories should be in the range of 400 to 600 words. If possible, please also send a photo of yourself.

We plan to publish the stories in the weekly CRC News electronic newsletter from early January until Prayer Summit 2014.