Fifty Days of Prayer

The Water’s Edge is entering into a season of prayer beginning on Sunday, July 21st and ending on Sunday, September 8th. We will devote 50 days to praying, learning, and growing. WE will pray as individuals, families, friends, and as a church.

Fifty days is significant. Pentēkostē is the Greek word for Pentecost which means fiftieth day. In the church calendar, Pentecost occurs fifty days, or seven weeks, after Easter. It is specifically the day the Church was given the Holy Spirit. 

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. -Acts 2:1-4 

We will pray that God fills us with the Holy Spirit and gives us the ability to do things we have never done before, to accomplished goals we have never completed, and to dream new dreams. 

The Hebrew Scriptures talk about the significance of fifty days as well—bringing their best offering to God after fifty days. 

Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. –Leviticus 23:16 

Although only a few people at The Water’s Edge are farmers (I know of two!) who can actually bring grain, we all have an offering we can bring God. For some it may be time, for others it may be energy, for others it may be a skill, and for others it may be a new level of commitment to discipleship. 

The fifty days begins on one of the most important days of year for The Water’s Edge—the first day of Vacation Bible School. The fifty days ends on one of the most important days of the year for The Water’s Edge—the launching of our new Sunday evening worship experience. Each day will be different. Some will focus on the church. Others will be deeply personal. Some will be comforting and pastoral. Others will be challenging and prophetic. 

My prayer is that after these fifty days, WE will have a much deeper understanding of prayer and a much richer experience of prayer. My prayer is also that God will use this understanding and experience to fuel our ministry this fall and for years and decades to come. 

I am blessed to be taking this journey of prayer with you, 

Craig