On the first Saturday in March (on the 5th of this year), Adventist women all over the world celebrate the International Day of Prayer. It is an important moment promoted by women, which involves all the realities of Adventist communities: because prayer concerns everyone.
In the churches, the pulpit is left to women who share the spiritual message prepared by the Women's Ministries (WM) of the global church. If there was ever a time when we need to pray, and we must not stop, it is now.
"We are living in uncertain times of loneliness and fear," says Heather-Dawn Small, WM's global leader. She continued, "Where can we go? How can we find peace and comfort? The International Day of Prayer materials will answer these questions and point to the one place where comfort and peace can be found. That place is alone with God in prayer."
On this special Saturday, communities will be in prayer for the entire 24 hours of March 5. In fact, in every time zone, there will be a group of women around the world praying, creating a strong chain of devotion and praise to God.
Sermon
The theme "Praying in the Last Days" is developed in the sermon—based on the text of Joshua 5:13-15—prepared by Cindy Tutsch, former associate director of the Ellen G. White Estate. The biblical account of the people of Israel in front of the flooded Jordan River, the last obstacle separating them from the promised land, offers many insights for us, both women and men, today. Without forgetting the most important lesson: turn to God.
"My sisters," Small adds, "we need to be connected to our source of strength, comfort and peace, and that connection happens when we pray. If you are feeling empty, lonely, afraid, hopeless, then drop what you are doing right now and seek your Father in prayer. Tell Him how you feel, ask Him to give you strength, courage, peace of mind. He will answer. He always does.
And the Bible exhorts us: "Seek the Lord and his strength, always seek his face! Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments of his mouth" (1 Chronicles 16:11, 12).
Seminar
Cindy Tutsch is also the author of the seminar "Why prayer is important". What should be the focus of our prayers in these last days? What should we pray for as we see the urgency of the times in which we live? These are the initial questions that guide the way through the seminar.
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