成人快手

Good morning. Today Christians all over the world are celebrating the World Day of Prayer, which this year comes to us from the people of Zimbabwe. As their verse for this year鈥檚 service they have chosen 鈥淩ise, take up your mat and walk鈥�. These words were spoken by Jesus to a disabled man who could not walk, but whose friends were so determined to get him to Jesus that they made a hole in the roof of the building in which Jesus was speaking and lowered him down on a stretcher. It鈥檚 a story which demonstrates Jesus鈥� healing and compassion, but also shows us the importance and power of friendship. If it weren鈥檛 for the faith of his friends, that man might never have been healed.
Today, we can no longer physically carry our friends to Jesus for healing, but Christian faith teaches us that we can still bring them to him through prayer. But prayer has the potential to do something else as well - transform our relationships with our enemies. The theologian William Barclay said, 鈥淭he surest way of killing bitterness is to pray for the man we are tempted to hate.鈥� It鈥檚 a reminder that when we pray, prayer can change us as much as it does the world around us. It鈥檚 a challenging thought which is rooted in the example of Jesus, who taught His followers to pray for their enemies as well as their friends, as he did himself when he hung dying on the cross.
Father God, we thank you for the people of Zimbabwe, and for their reminding us of the power of prayer today. Teach us to love both friend and enemy as Jesus did, and to have the courage to pray for both. Amen.