Praying for Inspire 2017

Prayer will be a crucial part of Inspire 2017, the Christian Reformed Church gathering including ministry leaders from congregations across North America that takes place Aug. 3-5 in downtown Detroit, Mich.

In preparation for the event, which offers well-known presenters, break-out sessions, worship, and more, organizers have provided a free, downloadable Inspire 2017 devotional guide titled Prepare Our Hearts.

“The devotional guide is for anyone to pray for blessings on Inspire, but it is also for individual readers to receive a blessing,” said Jolene DeHeer, a writer, inspirational speaker, and church elder who contributed prayers to the devotions. She also compiled the guide.

“I’m very excited about Inspire and to see us coming together from churches all over,” she said. “We will be able to strengthen one another and be equipped to go out and proclaim our faith.”

A crucial aspect of equipping is prayer, without which we don’t come into the presence of God, which is where we grow in our faith and open ourselves to the Lord’s leading, said DeHeer.

In one of the prayers she wrote, DeHeer touches on the importance of being in the presence of God in prayer.

“As you approach God today, allow yourself to be overwhelmed with his power -- a power that is great enough to take broken people like us and use us to share the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ,” she writes.

Including prayers from pastors and others, the devotional resource also offers insight into what people can gain from praying.

“We approach God today in prayer as our provider,” writes Mary Sterenberg, a prayer mobilizer for the CRC. “There is nothing about you or your concerns that he does not already know. He already has the answer for your concerns.”

An elder at LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich., DeHeer said prayer will be important before, during, and after Inspire. She said she will be praying for the success of Inspire before it happens, praying that God makes himself known to people during the event, and praying that God’s blessing and inspiration remain with the CRC and its people following the gathering.

“Prayer is so important at all times,” she said. “Rarely are we aware of what happens when we pray. But prayer should take our breath away. It helps us live and love as children of God.”

Above all, prayer is a process in which we can approach and learn from God how he wants us to act as his people and how he wants us to share what we learn in prayer with others, said DeHeer.

“Prayer slows people down and gets them to think and listen to God. An important part of prayer is reading Scripture, asking questions of it, and praying back what we hear from it to God.”

There will be special places for prayer during Inspire. One will offer a space for contemplative prayer, in which people will use certain objects such as candles and photos to help focus their prayer.

“Contemplative prayer can appeal to our different senses. It can be a different way to encounter God,” said DeHeer.

There also will be an opportunity for intercessory prayer -- the type of prayer in which people ask God to come into a person’s life to help them deal with certain challenges, said DeHeer.

In addition, there will be prayer stations outside the main meeting hall in the Renaissance Center, the hotel complex where Inspire will take place.

On Friday morning, said DeHeer, people will have a chance to take part in a prayer walk along a path that parallels the Detroit River.

“I believe we will see at Inspire that God is doing a mighty work,” she said. “Ministry is being done, and we are part of it. People will be reengaged to be what we are called to be — disciples of Christ.”

Click here for more information about Inspire 2017. A special coupon is available from June 9-18. If people type SYNOD in the coupon code box, they can receive 50 percent off their registration.

Watch Jolene DeHeer talk about and invite people to Inspire 2017.