08/10/23.
This past Annual Conference in Buckhannon, our West Virginia clergy and lay members to Annual Conference were blessed to hear from Sue Nilson Kibbey. She is a United Methodist Clergy that currently is part of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. Sue spoke about a form of prayer that she labels “Dynamite Prayer.”
Dynamite Prayer does not ask to replace our current practices of prayer but rather adds to our prayer practices. But to practice this form of prayer requires that we honestly and deeply believe that prayer makes a difference. It is a prayer (that we may include with our normal prayer patterns) which asks God both what is new and next in our personal lives and what is new and next in the life of our shared life as the Body of Christ.
This is not a short-term program. It is a way of prayer. Properly deployed within a congregation Dynamite Prayer is a movement that has the potential to be transformative for individuals and congregations who dare to ask God what is new and next in our lives.
This September, the West Virginia Conference invites us to participate with other congregations across West Virginia and the Indiana Conference, and possibly other conferences, to focus on the power of prayer.
Ken Willard of the West Virginia Conference’s staff writes:
“In the original Greek language of the New Testament, the word we read in English as ‘power’ is dunamis. This is where we get the word dynamite. This Greek word describes the supernatural power only God can provide in and through us. It was God’s dunamis power, scripture reports, that resurrected Jesus from the dead. In fact, the dunamis is used more than one hundred twenty times from the book of Matthew through Revelation.” [Dynamite Prayer by Rosario Picardo and Sue Nilson Kibbey].
Imagine the possibilities when a whole conference of congregations join together in prayer. Let’s stop playing it safe and tap into God’s unlimited power together to open new doors of ministry potential, and transform our live and our communities.
Sisters and brothers, I invite you to join with me in this experiment of a way of prayer that unleases the power of God among us and our surrounding community. I am committed to lead a group beginning the first Sunday of September for four weeks (the month of September). I am also prepared to meet with those available during the week, beginning Wed. Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. and Thursday mornings beginning Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. throughout the month of September. Come and see what the Lord has in store for you, for us.
Peace,
Pastor Jim