A New Perspective on a Beautiful Jewell

By Rev. Marc Andresen, Pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church, Corvallis, Oregon

    CORVALLIS, Oregon – Have you ever held a jewell in a bright light, turning it to watch the brilliant reflections from the many facets? Magnificent beauty invites close examination from different perspectives.

    At BBI’s Prayer Days in April 2005, God gave me the extraordinary privilege of studying, from a new viewpoint, a beautiful jewel reflecting His glory—brothers and sisters in Christ united in prayer. My experience with this jewel of uniting prayer has a long history. For fifteen years, ministry leaders in Oregon’s Willamette Valley have enjoyed God’s splendor through the prayer and unity movement He has created as a result of our yearly Prayer Summits. At these summits, pastors from many evangelical denominations spend countless hours praying together. Each year increases our anticipation and experiencing of God’s presence in prayer.

    My three days at Prayer Days in Latvia allowed me to see God reflected from a new perspective. I prayed with brothers and sisters who speak other languages, and who come from cultures and ministry backgrounds different from my own. Three reflections on Prayer Days continue to glow in my heart:

    Firstly, the teaching on prayer brought by Pastor Dee Duke of Jefferson Baptist Church in Oregon was excellent. We were all encouraged and challenged. Dee offered very practical steps for deepening and increasing our prayer life.

    Secondly, this was only the second year that Communion has been celebrated at Prayer Days. The worship leaders did an excellent job of acknowledging that, while we have different approaches to Communion, we should focus on what we have in common and come to the Table together. As we worshipped, I had a clear sense that God was removing bricks from the wall that separates denominations and ethnic groups in Latvia.

    The real unity of the Body of Christ was increased. Our Communion celebration closed with a half-dozen participants reciting the Lord’s Prayer, one after another, in their native language. What a beautiful demonstration of how our focus on Christ overcomes our differences. We had opportunities to deepen established relationships and to make new connections. My church has a sister-church in Tilza, in eastern Latvia. The leaders of that church participated in Prayer Days, and we were blessed by our prayer time with each other.

    Finally, God also surprised us through our meeting the pastor of a church of a different denomination who ministers in the same area. As far as I know, the Tilza leaders had not met him before. Praying together revealed another beautiful facet of the jewel—building new relationships on the foundation of prayer.

    I’m sure God was pleased with the prayer and worship; and our unity added to the advancement of His Kingdom. Prayer Days in Latvia was different from the Prayer Summits I’ve experienced back home in Oregon, but it was the same Lord of glory, reflected from a different facet of the jewel of united prayer.