June 29, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri, United States …. [Taashi Rowe/ANN]
It should come as no surprise that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a Christian organization, consults the Lord before it makes any decision. But today as the group prepared to spend 10 days making decisions that range from electing church officers to revising church doctrine, it has set aside 24 hours before its business meetings to spend in prayer.
In an effort to be sure that God is indeed leading the church, the period of prayer, “Hearing God’s Call,” examines the call to prayer, worship, relationship and witness. Inaugural speaker for the prayer session, Dwight Nelson, said more than anything else in the world God’s presence is “the one thing” that the church should be praying for. He added that in a world in crisis, letting God lead is crucial.
Prayer is the only way that “we can be sure of God’s leading,” Nelson said. It may seem pretty obvious to most, but Nelson, senior pastor of the Pioneer Memorial campus church at Andrews University, encouraged fellow believers to keep God’s will ever before them.
“It was the most significant thing he could speak of,” Pastor Bjorn Otteson, president of the Adventist Church in Sweden, commented following the meeting. “I believe we need to get on our knees and pray and pray for the Holy Spirit … especially in a church that is in so many ways stagnated.”
Leadership is hard, Nelson admitted to the group of church leaders from all around the globe. He went on to point out how quickly the early Christian church grew after they asked for and received God’s spirit, which guided the members.
“We should follow the steps of the early church as we plead together for heaven’s outpouring.” he said. “We must pray and pray for this one thing.”
“The mission and vision of this church is far beyond the human scope,” said Geoffrey Mbwana president of the East Central Africa church region. “We need God to accomplish any goals. It is very clear without God we cannot do it.”
The group has made it a practice to set aside the day before the business meetings to ask God’s guidance on decisions that will affect the church for years to come.
“There is a will for renewal, but we are not there yet,” said Otteson. “We won’t get anywhere with the plans we have in mind without God’s leading.”
Copyright © 2005 by Adventist News Network.
