Lent Devotion - Prayer Vigil

​Prayer Vigil
by Larry Haley

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20 KJV

Several years ago our pastor announced his intention to retire.  We were a small church congregation and our pastor served us part-time which was just what we needed.  We were concerned about who could provide this limited but important role for us.  Part-time pastors are hard to find.  Would a new pastor be serving multiple churches?  Would our worship time need to change? Our retiring pastor suggested we start a prayer vigil focused on a new pastor and what we needed.  We decided that for the months of February and March, the time before new pastors are assigned, that we would have Prayer Tuesdays.  The plan was to have one hour prayer times in the church sanctuary that individuals could reserve and come and pray.  The times were from 6am to 9pm.  Immediately folks signed up and we filled most of the slots.  And so on the first Tuesday in February the prayer vigil began and continued for the two months. 

Sometime in April we were contacted that our new pastor had been selected and he was brought to our church by our DS and introduced.  He was a retired pastor/DS who lived 15 minutes away.  He wanted part-time at one church.  And then he said “I decided I wanted to return to preaching and on the first Tuesday in February I called the DS to see if there was a possibility.”  The day we started our prayer vigil! We prayed for two months not knowing that God had already answered our prayers.

In reflection, I’ve thought of the verse of being gathered in God’s name and I now believe it not only refers to physical gathering but also to spiritual gathering.
 
Prayer: Lord, you know what we need before we do.  Help us to listen to you and to accept what you provide. Amen