Pray without ceasing. It’s a tall order. But we at The
Upper Room place Paul’s admonition at the head of all
we do. Considering ourselves as hosts of the place where
the world meets to pray, we facilitate a global wave of
prayer that travels the world each day just as surely as the
sun. And now that the sixty days of prayer for The United
Methodist Church and its 2016 General Conference draws
to a close, it is my great privilege to invite you to continue
praying with Christians around the world as we all go on
toward perfection.
What does it mean to pray without ceasing? The particular
forms will look different for each of us since each
person bears the divine imprint in a unique way. But the
intent behind our prayers makes us one. We pray in order to
yoke our hearts and minds together, striving to see through
the temporal to the everlasting. We pray to join ourselves in
the divine trend toward righteousness, justice, and peace.
We pray to participate in the intimate relationship of the
Trinity, to love more fully as God loves.
At The Upper Room we believe that prayer infuses the
rhythms of each day. We strive not to remove ourselves
from the world in order to pray but to weave our prayers
into the fabric of our fleeting lives. We stand at the intersection
of being and doing, bidding inner lives outward and
outer lives inward. As you return to your homes around the
world, we invite you to join us each day where the world
meets to pray. Tell us the tales of those who labor among
you. Breathe peace in your community where chaos swirls.
Help the weak. Pray with us and know that the world is
praying with you.
By Shawn Bakker from the Upper Room: 60 Days of Prayer for General Conference 2016