This weekend we have just completed a weekend of prayer- 36 hours from 9 pm Friday to 9 am Sunday. We ask people to sign up for an hour or more of prayer in the church building during that time and we find that it is always productive. It's good when we can cover every hour in that period, but sometimes that just isn't possible. In the past we have done it once or twice a year, but this time we are doing it every 3 months and making it a priority on our calendar.

In the past there has been a general sense of excitement and expectation that God would meet with us. This time was different. It felt like it was hard work, for some it was even a struggle.

I'm not sure why that is, except that our spiritual life mirrors our physical life. Some days we leap out of bed with energy and excitement and other days it is just hard work getting up. Sometimes our relationship with God is full of joy and adventures while at other times it seems like we are just slogging on out of sheer determination.

I think that the blessings come in the more difficult times. It is when we hang on to God doing the things that we know are right regardless of our feelings that we later find our prayers are truly effective and our faith is deepened.

So this weekend has been hard work, but well worth it. We won't know the fruit of our prayers immediately but I think we can be confident that we have achieved what needed to be done this weekend.