PRAY FIRST

Ross Holuk, Bowridge Site Elder

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4: 6-7

The Elder’s Board shared the news at the budget meeting last week that the annual property tax on the Westhills land increased from approximately $5,000 to over $100,000 per year. The Property Stewardship Team (PST) believe that the land has been incorrectly assessed and are currently challenging the assessment with the City of Calgary.

A wise person sitting next to me at the budget meeting asked a simple question - Why isn’t the congregation praying about this?

Last December, when we were in the process of getting the SW land rezoned, we had prayer teams, congregational praying, and over thirty people in the Council Chambers praying over each vote. At the end of the day, the Lord granted us rezoned land at 77th Street and 17 Avenue!

So, let’s listen to Paul’s wisdom from Philippians; "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Would you stop whatever you are doing and pray first in this moment?

Jesus, we thank you for every gift that you give to us. We thank you for the RockPointe buildings and the land in the SW. We thank you for blessing us with faithful leaders and for a congregation that wants to make disciples in the SW and throughout Calgary. Today and throughout this month, we ask you to be with the people at City of Calgary who will make the decision on taxation so that Your will would be done. Please bless their families and their judgement. Amen

Could you please keep this item on your daily prayer list this month? We will update you as we get more information.

Have you been anxious about the organization changes? Paul in Philippians 4 exhorts us to not be anxious, but to give this to our Lord who will bring us peace and guard our hearts. He points us back to prayer.

I love being in a small group. My favorite time when we meet is when we share our requests and praises and have prayer time together. Matthew shared with us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20 NIV)

This is where we see RockPointe continuing to move as part of our vision - a pray first community. Instead of saying, “I will pray for you”, a pray first community says, “Lets pray about this right now.” A pray first community is where you are comfortable sending a quick text to a fellow congregant to ask for prayer or simply to let them know you are praying for them any time of the day or night.

As a pray first community, we need to continue to talk to God and listen to Him. My wise father taught me to listen before I opened my mouth. However, with prayer I tend to ask first and sometimes forget to listen. Listening through the Holy Spirit is hard, but rewarding. As we go back to our day, let’s have ‘ears to hear’ as the Holy Spirit guides each of us.

In Jesus’ precious name,

Ross Holuk