Begin with Prayer
Prayer makes us aware of God’s presence and reminds us of our dependence on Him.
Jesus exemplified a life of prayer and dependency on the Father. Beginning with prayer isn’t about having an agenda for our life or our relationships—it’s about asking God to help us be about His business.
Pastor Rich Phenow reflects on Roger Anderson*, CPC’s founding pastor, and his legacy of prayer:
Roger would listen to people for a few minutes, then grab hands and pray. After a while I was intrigued by that, and I asked him, “Roger, what’s that all about?” Roger replied, “As a pastor I’m so untrained, so unqualified to help people with their problems—their marriages, their kids with addiction, family issues—but one thing I can do is bring them before God’s goodness and grace and pray with them. So out of my inadequacies, I bring them forward with confidence to God and lift their burdens up. It releases me from the responsibility of having to fix something I’m not capable of fixing. And at the same time, it places them in the place where they need to be—in God’s presence.”
Roger gave me the courage to follow his example—to offer to pray for others anytime. He would bring people before God and let God take care of them. And believe me, there was never a place or time that wasn’t appropriate for him to pray!
NEXT STEPS:
This week: Write a simple prayer that keeps you dependent on God and keeps Him at the center of your relationships.
Next week: Begin to pray this prayer each day. Put it in your phone, set a reminder to pray, or place it where you will see it and respond.
Staff recommended books on prayer:
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? by Philip Yancey
Praying the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann
*Pastor Roger Anderson passed away on April 2, 2018. His memorial service will take place at CPC on June 8 at 10:30AM.