An Invitation to Prayer
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
December 2, 2025
Jesus discipled His followers to understand that prayer can move mountains. This is about faith, and trust. Faith that God can do anything, and trust that He can use us to accomplish His perfect design. Obstacles rise, and trouble comes our way, but the manifold blessings of our Father encourage us to stand against the designs of the enemy. The Apostle Paul put it this way,
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” (Ephesians 6:12-14 nlt)
We can stand against the enemy, holding high a “shield of faith.” And God empowers us to be victorious!
Here’s the problem I too often see - - people making the mistake of thinking that God is the mountain to be moved; that if we pray hard enough and believe strong enough, God will bend His will to ours. That’s the grand problem with a “name-it and claim-it” notion of prayer.
E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary, theologian, author, and Asbury alum had this to say about prayer: “"If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.” More concisely, he wrote, “Prayer is aligning ourselves with God’s purposes.” Amen!
EMC Pastors, the Superintendents would love to have you join us this Thursday, December 4th, for an hour of prayer via ZOOM at 11am Eastern time.
A separate invita,on email will be sent to pastors on Thursday morning. But you can also join by clicking the link below: h"ps://us02web.zoom.us/j/84283231796?pwd=V5gycs9StmwA1nsqKho8bijbYyOE0b.1 The ZOOM Mee(ng ID: 842 8323 1796. The Passcode is: 938841
We have been invi(ng pastors to join us on the third Thursday for 30 minutes, but we have found our (me was too short. We will be spending an hour of prayer and sharing prayer concerns from 11am to 12 noon every first Thursday of the month.