**Rejoice alwa _ys, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you._**
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Dear Friends and Family,
This year, so far it seems that there has been a continuing theme of prayer. According to 1 Thessalonians 5 we are to “pray without ceasing”, so this theme should not be surprising. Last month, I shared how we had started the year, after our bout of covid, with an afterglow and prayer service at church. That service inspired the wife of our media director, Esther, to take time to pray a step further. While prayer is a part of every service and ministry we have at Arise Christian Fellowship, Esther thought we needed a day set apart specifically for prayer and fasting. We have now started, on the first Saturday of the month, to have a day of prayer and fasting at the church. Whoever is able gathers at the church at 2pm, following the worship teams’ practice. The worship team members who are able to stay, open the prayer time with some worship while individuals have a time of personal prayer, reflection and repentance. After that there are organized times of prayer where the people pray for specific things such as the church, the country, world events, etc. There is also time for the people to break into smaller groups and pray for one another for whatever prayer requests they might have.
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