God Answering Prayer
Those of you who were not at the mid week meetings this week will have missed seeing God answering prayer, at first hand. Bob M had to work on Tuesday so we swapped the Bible study and prayer group. I had done the introduction and music and we were into the first prayer when my mobile telephone rang – this is such a rare occurrence that I seldom remember I have it on. It was Mark; he was in a bus stuck in a queue (which had apparently been growing for several hours) at the border between Bulgaria and Macedonia. He normally takes this route, as the airfare to Sofia is less than that to Skopje. He asked us to pray that he would not be stuck there all night. So we did and then carried on with the meeting. As the meeting closed with the Grace I got a text from him saying the police had moved the bus to the front of the queue and their papers were being processed. Was it a coincidence or was it a God-incidence? You decide.
The Bible tells us that the prayers of the whole church together are more effective than those prayed in solitude. Although the Lord can (and does) do miracles through individuals, and in answer to our own prayers, He also chooses to act through His body, the Church. I do not doubt that Mark was praying for himself but when we all called on the Lord we saw a result, as happened when the Church prayed for Peter in prison (Acts 12:5). If we want to see the spread of Christianity across the nation we have to pray and pray together. Therefore I urge you to do this not only on Sundays but also at the midweek meetings.
