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Welcome back and happy New Year! I trust you and your families took the time to connect with God, your families, and friends over the holidays and you are ready for school to resume!
Over the next two school weeks, I would like to invite you to join us, and our brothers and sisters across our North American Division in 10 Days of Prayer. The theme of this year‘s 10 Days of Prayer is “A Deeper Experience”. When we pray it is so easy to focus on our needs, our difficulties, our challenges. But this is not the purpose of prayer. Prayer is meant to strengthen our faith. And our faith is strengthened when we claim the promises of God in our lives. So for the next 10 days we want to be intentional about claiming God‘s promises in our prayers and watching Him strengthen and grow us as His people. 
So here we go! Let‘s claim & pray!  To follow along with the 10 Days of Prayer readings and prayers, go to www.tendaysofprayer.org

Day 1 Theme: To Know & Believe - Have you been abandoned by a parent or family member? Do you long to be accepted and secure? Do you ache to be loved unconditionally? Claim the following verses over your life – and the lives of your children:
·      “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15
·      “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. . . . I have called you by your name; you are Mine” (Jer. 1:5; Isa. 43:1).
·      “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:18). 
·      “When my father . . . forsake[s] me, then the Lord will take care of me” (Ps. 27:10).

Day 1 Prayer: Father, we praise You for loving us first. We praise You that You draw us with Your love. We praise You for Your unfailing care. For creating us, calling us by name and adopting us to be sons and daughters. We thank you for not forgetting us. Lord, we praise You for Your healing power. Lord, please forgive us for any sins that keep us from having a deeper experience with You. Please allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and show us any sins that keep us away from You. Lord, we pray, as Paul did in Eph. 3:17-19: That You will find a permanent home in our hearts as we learn to trust You. That our roots will go down deeply into the soil of Your love. That we will understand the width and length and depth and height of Your love. That we will be filled with all the fullness of God. We ask that You fill us with Your love and make us passionate about loving others to Jesus. We pray for families whose world is filled with chaos, sorrow, and confusion. We pray for Christians who face persecution or imprisonment because of their beliefs. We pray for a spiritual revival among our young people. May they become vibrant ambassadors for Christ. Lord, we pray for those you have laid on our hearts. May they let the Holy Spirit work in their lives. Father, we thank You for those who have loved and nurtured us. Thank You that You had Your hand over us before we were born. Thank You that even if we had been the only ones on the earth, You would have died for us. Thank You for answering our prayers even before we ask.

Lara Melashenko

On a rather stormy day, Renowned Scottish theologian George Adam Smith climbed the Weisshorn Mountain, located in the Pennine Alps, in Switzerland.  Smith and his two guides climbed up the safest side of the mountain and when they reached the summit at around 4505 meters, Smith stood to his feet on the top of that mountain and was almost blown away by the strong wind, had it not been for one of his guides quickly grabbing him and pulling him back down, and saying these words: "On your knees, sir! You will only be safe on your knees."
 
You and I will truly only be safe on our knees too!   That is why as a staff this next 2 weeks we will be going through the 10 Days of Prayer that you can find at www.tendaysofprayer.org – Why not join us?
 
Scholars indicate that Gen. 4:26 is the first biblical instance of prayer, "And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh.  Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. Genesis 4:24 NKJV
 
For over 6000 years, thousands of people have been bombarding heaven with their prayers. Some with, rather short prayers, some with endless ones.  Prayers on behalf of themselves, and prayers on behalf of others. Some prayers have been motivated by pain, and some by gratefulness. Some were spoken secretly, while others were spoken publicly. 
 
Regardless how these prayers were expressed, the truth is that throughout the centuries people have been seeking the power of prayer. This power, which is available to each one of us, involves the principle of trust in God's existence, and the simple fact that we can communicate with Him. The Psalmist pleaded: "Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth."Psalms 54:2 NKJV
 
The simple act of praying is a confirmation of our belief in the existence of a superior Being, and that He, truly is available to us. This fundamental principle about prayer, casts down a religion that presents an absent God, who, after creating the world, abandoned it. Those who make use of prayer, trust that God is present and that He is concerned about His children. 
  
Christ once said in Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7 NKJV
 
I invite you to join me at this very moment, to pray, to this great and powerful God, who is so close and available to any who call upon HIM.  He will listen to your prayer and attend to your petition, according to His will. As you seek Him at this moment, remember that "prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven‘s storehouse where are treasured the boundless resources of omnipotence”   EGW STC 94, 95

Pastor Paul Antunes