Each week the church and it’s members come face to face with any of these scenarios: a man shooting and killing his neighbor; a cult seizes the mind of a teenager, stealing him from his family; a bill is presented before the assembly that creates special rights for any student or teacher based upon their own self-described sexual behavior (meaning any kind of sexual behavior can be introduced and promoted in the classroom); a husband and wife are constantly fighting, the kids react with negative behavior to their friends; a daughter gets the word that her father has cancer in the esophagus with the uncertainty of the length of his life. We have just begun to list the crises.
GUEST COMMENT
At these times we ask questions in a version like this: Is prayer really necessary? Does a sovereign, all powerful God need my involvement or not? Can my prayer make a difference? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” James 5:16 says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Anytime we go to God the Father in behalf of ourselves and other individuals we are creating “God meetings.” Our prayers actually bring individuals into contact with God. If we do not intercede (or stand in behalf of someone), God’s presence cannot come down from heaven to touch someone.
In his book Intercessory Prayer, Dutch Sheets stated, “Although, Jesus fully accomplished the task of breaking the authority of Satan and voiding his legal hold upon the human race, someone on earth must represent Him in that victory and enforce it.” Skyline Wesleyan Church is committed to representing Jesus to our local community and to the entire San Diego county.
On Sunday evening, May 18, prayer warriors from the congregation at Skyline Wesleyan met at the amphitheater on Mt. Helix for a prayer siege. By going up to a “high place,” we had a view of our city (or cities) that gripped us with a compassion and a burden for the needs of the people of San Diego County. We praised and worshipped God for the beauty of the land; we were humbled and had to repent for our sins and the sins of our nation; we prayed for God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness to fall upon us; we prayed for righteousness and truth to live in our hearts, so it can extend to our city and nation.
In the past month, 40 percent of Lemon Grove has been prayer walked (praying for the residents of homes while walking along the streets of your neighborhood) by a 20 person prayer team led by Judy Everett. Plans are being made to complete Lemon Grove and begin in Spring Valley and La Mesa before the end of the summer.
We at Skyline believe that our prayer meetings, whether individual or corporately, can make a difference in the life of our city.
We also believe in the victory of the Cross and that we are representatives of Jesus to enforce His victory in our lives.
Luke 19:41 says, “As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.” What do you do when you see your city?
Carol Garlow is wife of Dr. Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in Lemon Grove.
