“Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…” (Colossians 4:3)
 
In the reading appointed earlier this week in the daily lectionary, Paul exhorts the church at Colossae to pray for the Lord to open the way before him in his mission. He knows that he must have the grace and power of God if he is to proclaim the Gospel clearly and boldly. And that grace and power, Paul says, come through faithful, thankful prayer.
 
In our Diocese, we have begun a prayer movement to undergird our work of church planting and evangelism. We’re calling it “L10:2,” based on Luke 10:2, where Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
 
Jesus’ first and primary strategy for mission was prayer. He told his disciples to pray even before He told them to go.
 
I have met and discussed this with our church planting leaders and we are excited about the L10:2 initiative. We envision a three-pronged approach.
 
First, we will have a network of those who have committed to pray for our work of evangelism and church planting. The Rev. Tim Howe of Truro Anglican Church (Fairfax, VA) has agreed to coordinate this prayer effort. He will regularly send out by email a cycle of prayer, with a very short list of targets for the upcoming weeks, so we can pray together for, say, Charlottesville this week, Richmond next week and Hagerstown the following week.
 
If you would be willing to join in this effort, simply send a brief email to Lynn Milograno, Diocesan Administrator, saying that you want to be a part of the L10:2 prayer effort. You’ll receive periodic emails (perhaps once a month) with a few bullet points for prayer. It will be entirely up to you to pray when and how the Lord leads.
 
Second, consider joining in our periodic days of on-site prayer in targeted communities. The first of these will be in Charlottesville on Saturday, June 22 from (you guessed it) 10:00 to 2:00. We’ll gather (at a place to be announced), pray together for a time; then go out in teams to various parts of the community to pray and listen to the Lord; then we’ll re-gather for reporting back, lunch and more prayer together. In the months ahead, we expect to have more of these days of on-site prayer in strategic cities.
 
And third, please mark your calendars for our second Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic conference on intercessory prayer, to be held on Saturday, October 12, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at All Saints’ Church (Woodbridge, VA). I am delighted to report that Rose-Marie Edwards-Tasker, whose health prevented her from being our keynoter last year, will be with us as our principal speaker. Details and registration information will be in upcoming issues of The Mid-Atlantic Messenger. Please help spread the word about this great opportunity to learn and grow in prayer together.
 
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul commends his companion, Epaphras, who, he says, is “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers” (4:12). The word he uses for “struggling” is agonizomai and it means contending against adversaries, wrestling, fighting, agonizing. What a blessed thing to say about someone, that he or she is praying with such passion and fervor for the sake of others!
 
May that be true of us in this Diocese: that we are praying with zeal and faith and perseverance for the lost.

 
The Rt. Rev. John A. M. Guernsey

P.S. A number of us have set an alarm on our phone or watch to go off every day at 10:02 a.m. to call us to pray Luke 10:2 for the Lord to send more laborers into the harvest!

Find Bishop Guernsey's article in PDF format onlinehere.