Praying for Alpha

It was the first meeting for Alpha 2010 @ 633 King's Road yesterday, and woo hoo was it awesome! The room was packed, and my friend stuck to his word and came along! In the beginning, he was a little nervous, because he was worried that he wouldn't know anyone and feel out of place, but I reassured him, "Are you serious? You're O! I'm sure you'll know a ton of people!"

And sure enough, as if "by coincidence", he not only recognized a few people that he had met before, but a really welcoming brother, Geoff, that O had not only met, but worked with previously, is the leader of our Alpha group! God is so awesome in how He orchestrates things to happen!

Even though O is going to miss Alpha next Monday, but he is keen to come back the week after. I can't wait to see how God will work in his heart through this Alpha course, and prayed for him that night that God will touch him in a special way in the next 10 weeks. I pray that God will reach out to him and let O know that He is God, the Alpha and the Omega, in a way that O comprehends and needs. I also prayed for the other members of my Alpha group by name. I'm thankful that God has placed us together as a group, to grow together, and to support and encourage each other. Whether we have walked with God for years, or are still holding God off at a distance, I pray that He will speak to each of us personally, and that we would encounter Him in a mighty way!

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:

"Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge.

"Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

But to the wicked, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother's son. These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

"Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue: He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."