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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-26, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018. PAGE 23. From the Minister's Study Pray regularly to realize God's full capability Why do we pray? 1 believe that God knows all things, and I believe, further, that he also cares about me. If that is true, then why do I need to bother to pray? If this loving God already knows my needs, why do I need to ask him for anything? One of the things we do know is this: God already gives much more than we ask for. Yesterday I didn't pray that God would provide me with food, but I still ate. And I didn't pray for protection on the road as I travelled to a friend's house, and yet I arrived safely without an accident. I didn't pray for the continued health of my children, but they are healthy. I imagine that if I made a list of all the things I received that I hadn't prayed for, the list would be far longer than the one that contains the things for which I did pray. God has continued to provide for me even when I didn't pray. If that is true, then why pray? We cannot determine if our prayers even move God to action. Perhaps there are times when God waits for us to pray for a certain thing (e.g. clarity for a decision we need to make), and he won't give us what we need until we ask him. But we can't be sure if it is our prayers that move God to action or if God acts simply because he knows what we need and he cares for us. There is no possible way for us to know how things would have been different had we not prayed for that which we received. Would God have provided for us anyway? We can't know, but from experience we can assume that in most cases he will. We might be inclined to ask ourselves: who really needs prayer? Us? Or God? Certainly God doesn't need our prayers to have the power to act. God is perfectly capable of getting the job done whether or not we ask him. Prayers don't have power in and of themselves. Sometimes, sadly, people begin to equate prayer with the power of positive thinking. Some believe that if enough people think positive thoughts about something that the result will be an energy that will change the way things are. (If that were true, the Leafs, with their huge and supportive fan base, would win the Stanley Cup almost every year.) Prayer is not positive thinking that creates energy that shapes an outcome. Prayer does not create positive energy, and even if it did, God would not need that energy in order to act. So, why do we pray? It does not seem that God, who knows all things and who also cares about us, needs our prayers in order to act. But, then, perhaps prayer is not so much for God as it is #1 And We Still Try Harder Recent circulation figures show The Citizen has the highest circulation in the northern part of Huron County, #3 in the entire county. The Citizen Proudly Community -Owned Since 1985 11 r for us. We definitely need prayer. We need prayer. Prayer helps us understand how helpless we are. Let's take the weather as an example. In the past few weeks farmers have been itching to get on the fields and plant their crops. But, although the snow is mostly gone the soil is still cold and although winter seems to have passed, the forecast is not all that great. It is times like this that we realize how helpless we are as human beings. We are so incapable when it really comes down to it. Or take illness as another example. We have wonderful technologies and medical staff who work hard to help us when we lose our health, but sometimes they simply cannot find the problem or solve it. Again, we prove to be rather helpless as human beings. In the Heidelberg Catechism, a document written about 400 years ago to teach us the basics of the Christian faith, the question is asked, "What is your only comfort in life and in death?" The question means, "What do you have that is strong enough that will enable you to live life successfully and face death without fear?" All people who live on this earth need to answer that question, and if we are honest, we have to come to the conclusion that in our own strength we are not very capable. We need help from the outside which God graciously provides us in Jesus Christ. When we pray, the first thing we are doing is acknowledging our own insufficiencies, and in that light, we are also acknowledging God's sufficiency. We are recognizing our dependence on him. Prayer, in a sense, then, is an act of thankfulness, for when we pray, we remember and believe that there is one who is all powerful who is able to help us in our weaknesses. Prayer, then, is much more necessary for us than it is for God. BRUSSELS United Church Welcome to Sunday morning worship & Sunday School at 11:00 am Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386 Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com Everyone welcome The Regional Ministry of Hope Everyone Welcome! Trinity Anglican Church St. John's Anglican Church BLYTH BRUSSELS Or. 9:15 am 11:15am MINISTRY OFFICE 519-357-4883 Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The Regional Ministry of Hope COME WORSHIP WITH US! What about those who don't pray? What if we don't spend much time communicating with God and recognizing how much we need his help? What does that say about us? If we are not praying, then we are saying that we are capable of taking care of ourselves. And if we only pray in the most dire of circumstances, we are saying that we only need God in times of big trouble, but for the rest, he is not all that important. Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, calls us to pray continually. Continual prayer is to recognize that we need God's help in all things at all times, that we couldn't carry on without him. Prayer is for us, for prayer moves us to recognize our own insufficiency and God's full capability. Yes, God may well move to action because of our prayers, but far more often, we are moved to faithful thankfulness when we pray. Get breaking farm news on the Rural Voice website at www.ruralvoice.ca • Y10 re n iteCl l( join ?( t9n l,i o1:Y{up SUNDAYS Morning Service Evening Service 10:00 am 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, APRIL 29 We invite you to join our church family in: Worship & Sunday School - 11 am Coffee & Snacks following the service Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Nursery care available 519-887-6687 AN INVITATION TO AN A: U BA A New Sermon Series HURON CHAPEL Every Sunday in Auburn at 9am & 11 am huronchapel.com Blyth United Church Est. 1875 Ved it IP' T*GETHER Sunday, April 29 Join us as we celebrate Hillary's final Sunday with us as a Student Intern Minister Joint worship service at Brussels UC 11:00 a.m. Lunch following worship. OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Sunday, April 29 at 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Winaham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph's Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N.