Message from the
President of West
Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
on the occasion of
the
Day of Prayer,
Sabbath, August 1, 2009
Dear Fellow believers:
Today we observe a “Day
of Prayer for the Nation” (Jamaica), because we
believe that the effectual, fervent, persistent prayer of God’s
people will receive His full attention.
This year, we pray
against the looming backdrop of the global financial crises, the
menacing crime, violence and moral decay, and the need for a
continued focus on the Church’s mission to give hope to a world that
needs to turn to God. We have an opportunity to remind ourselves and
our nation of the wonders of prayer.
All over the world each
day, persons go to very far extent to look better; millions are
spent each day for person to feel better. The drug industry thrives
on person’s deep desire to feel good about themselves. Many
Christian go from day to day burdened and making it obvious on their
faces. Many individuals on this miserable planet end their own lives
because they cannot feel or realize the change they so desperately
desire. The Lord would have us know that He is available to hear our
faintest call and that He will stand by us in our moment of need.
God made Israel a
promise which we must claim for Jamaica. If we would turn from doing
wickedness and give our lives to God, He will hear our prayers and
He will heal our country. We need to fulfil our side of that
contract. We who believe in the power of prayer and the ability of
God to reconcile us to Himself, must petition His throne ceaselessly
on behalf of our nation.
Prayer addresses the
emotional needs. In prayer you can feel His presence near you and
His arm around you. Prayer addresses physical needs, for God will
supply all our needs according to His riches in Glory. Prayer speaks
to our need to communicate because in Jesus we have One who is never
tired to hear His children expressing their needs to Him for
themselves and for their fellow citizens.
Ellen White in her
book, Steps to Christ, noted that the darkness of the evil one
encloses those who neglect to pray, and the whispered temptations of
the enemy entice them to sin, because they do not make use of the
privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of
prayer. She questioned why the sons and daughters of God are
reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to
unlock heaven's storehouse, which is full of treasures. (p. 93)
It is my hope that as
we unite in prayer today, the Spirit of the One who never fails will
be upon us, and will heal and restore that which the enemy has
wounded and stolen.
May God bless us
abundantly as we worship today, and may Jamaica Land we love, be
transformed as a result of the intercession of God’s people on
behalf of our beautiful country and its leaders.
Derek A. Bignall
(Pastor)
President
