A House Of Prayer

This morning I heard a sermon by Karl Kruse.  I got to know Karl, but not well, as he was pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Hutchinson.  In recent months however, through this year's spiritual storms, many of us here in the Dassel-Cokato area have gotten to know and love Karl and his wife Nancy through a series of events that I can only call miraculous--all in response to prayer.  I'll never forget the Thursday evening in April when, after the prayer team had met, God arranged for a "Prayer School" with Bjorn Peterson and Prayer Watch International to be hosted here in Cokato.  It was amazing grace--grace that continued today.

Karl sent me the notes he followed during his sermon.  You can access them here.  You can listen to Karl's sermon by going to this Sermon Network link.  He plans to be back in Cokato on January 7-8 for a Friday evening through Saturday afternoon introduction to "The Exciting World of Prayer.  Learn more by contacting Pastor Karl at 951-378-3479 or pwikarl@aol.com.

Here are some of Karl's key points from my very sketchy notes:

• God is doing cleansing work so his church will be a House of Prayer (Matthew 21:12ff).
• Start with prayer (First Timothy 2:1-4) in everything you do as a church.  
• Prayer is how we seek God's Kingdom and His Righteousness.  It isn't just one program (or "silo") among many others (Matthew 6:33).
• God wants His Holy Spirit of Grace and Prayer to flow over the church (Zechariah 12:10).
• Dependent prayer produces a deep relationship with God.
• A wise builder will carefully check the prayer foundation before beginning (Matthew 7:24-29).
• Storms expose the foundation of our lives--and of churches.
• A strong foundation comes from a life of prayer.
• Prayer involves listening (Luke 24:32) and acting in obedience (James 1:22).
• Prayer is the place of beginning.  Without it growth and revival will not occur.
• When we work, we work.  When we pray, God works.
• Much of a foundation is not seen--prayer also is often not seen.

Please pray for Karl and his wife Nancy.  Nancy will be going to her Father God's home soon.  She's in what seems to be the end stages of a battle with cancer.  Pray that Karl and Nancy would know the peace of God that passes all understanding.  It's available to us all when we pray in Jesus' name.

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