Pray Without Ceasing: Interceding for the People You Serve

Sep 7, 2021 | UA News

The Bible is clear that prayer is powerful! It is not our efforts that yield meaningful change in the world, but the Holy Spirit working through us. Urban Alliance uses their 5-C Framework to strengthen nearly 120 programs in five distinct areas– one of which is Christian Witness. Christian Witness is a program’s capacity to share the love of Jesus and prayer is an important part!

In recognizing the importance of meeting the spiritual needs of individuals who are struggling, Urban Alliance invited program leaders to participate in a training, “Pray Without Ceasing: Interceding for the People You Serve”, to help them strengthen their efforts in offering prayer to people served and the community-at-large. During the training, program leaders received handouts with prayer samples, prayer models, helpful resources on intercession, a tool to help programs assess their practices around offering prayer to those served. The training also demonstrated the power of praying Scripture over our lives and the lives of others. For example:

 “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen (person’s name) with power through his Spirit in his/her inner being, so that Christ may dwell in his/her heart through faith. And I pray that (person’s name), being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that (person’s name) may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”(Ephesians 3:14-19)

Additionally, Urban Alliance provided prayer boxes and prayer request cards to each program leader who attended the training. Prayer boxes helped program leaders incorporate the content of the training into their ministry setting. It also was used by leaders to encourage individuals to share their prayer requests in a confidential and safe manner. Currently there are numerous programs using the prayer boxes as an extension of their spiritual support to those they serve.

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The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. “That’s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, “ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. “We all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,” said Termine, “We could do better than this.” That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, “If you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. We’re a small church … we can’t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.”

Pastor Frank Termine’s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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