I was in a group and a beautiful sentiment was offered in our conversation: there is no such thing as a bad prayer. They’re right. No prayer offered to Jesus is ever or could ever be bad. In fact, the very act of praying, regardless of the content, is a good prayer. This is what Paul is getting at when he says that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom 8:26).

Our hope with the 100 days of Prayers isn’t that you will learn how to pray right. That’s not a thing. Any prayer is a good prayer. The goal isn’t to just give you something to do, either. As if we all have so much time that we are just looking for something to do.

The Goal is to grow our faith. 

Jesus tells us in Matt 18 that “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” I think we use this, sometimes, to mean that we don’t have to have huge crowds for the ministry to be meaningful. And that’s right. But it also means that we aren’t to be alone in our faith. That we need another person to have access to a power that is not available alone. That with only another Christian or two we have something that we don't on our own. We Christians must have other Christians in our lives. And those Christians must engage with us on a spiritual level, a level like prayer. 

For the 100 days of prayer you will be supported.

We have bible verses for the whole 100 days. Once a week you will be grouped with two or three other people. When you are together you can use the structure that you have been given, or use something else, if you're comfortable. 

Once a week you should meet with your others. This is so that we can practice our faith together. It is not punitive. There is no one taking attendance. We know that the act of giving your time to another person is a valuable gift. When you give this time, this sacrifice, it is an act of love; love for God (which we can call worship) and love for your other groupies (which we can call worship. Check out Matt 22:37, and see what Jesus has to say about people who act like this).

It may be awkward. Honestly, you will be paired with someone you may or may not know. Outside of the Church those people are called strangers because you don’t know them and don’t know what you have in common with them. They may even have bad intentions. But in the Church, we call them Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our Church family; they aren’t strangers, just extended family we haven’t met yet. We may not know them as well as other friends, but we have the important stuff in common: we love the LORD. These siblings in Christ also want to grow in their faith, just like you. They care about you already because they are in the same Church. We can’t go into the world and expect that just anyone will even want to know us, but we can in the Church. This is one of the things that separates us from the world. And it is because of the incredible access to the Holy Spirit that makes it more than random. 

You will have to take a leap of faith. You will have to step out of your comfort zone and see what the Holy Spirit is up to. But unless you take that leap out of the boat you will never walk on water. When you do you will have invited the Holy Spirit into your life. You will be living a life of faith. Your faith will grow. Sign up for the 100 Days of Prayer HERE.