This Sunday we will begin a new series that will focus our attention on The Lord's Prayer/The Our Father. Revs. Katie and Lillie will be sharing some of the preaching during this series so that you will have a chance to hear all three of us reflect on Jesus's prayer and on the importance of prayer to the spiritual life.

I personally attribute any "success" I have had in ministry to the heartfelt prayers of church saints. Since my first paid ministry job as a Children's Minister when I was just 17 years old until now, I have always felt the distinct nature of the support of daily prayer saints.

At my first church, I knew that people like Mary Scott and Ralph Farrar where praying for me every single day. When I began work at the MCC in Portland, Oregon, I learned to trust in the daily prayers of two couples: Stephanie and Teresa and my dear friends Jeanne and Cory. In Colorado Springs, a faithful former Catholic named Mary Brady prayed for me every day until I preached her funeral. And we have our prayer saints here as well. I trust in the prayers of folks like Jackie Rice, Bettye Babb, Toni Smith, and more. One thing I can tell you but I can't explain: there is a depth to the prayers of those who pray often that is self-evident and powerful.

Over the next several weeks as we talk about prayer, I want to invite you into a more active prayer life. Even if you aren't sure how to do it, if it "works," or what might happen, I really want to encourage you to consider testing prayer out and seeing what happens if you pray more often. In the end, prayer is simply talking to God, and I think we'd all be hard-pressed to suggest any reason why we shouldn't try to talk to God a bit more, right?

If you are ready to give it a shot, look for the "Pray With Me" program on the Featured Programs Page to sign up for our email-based prayer group. Over the next six weeks or so, this group will work on praying together each day. In this season of Easter, I'm excited to see what kinds of resurrections we may experience as we talk with our God.